My Writing Careers?

Last week I had an interview for a copy writing position. The job basically involved writing 30 minute commercials based on briefs of information received from sales reps. I won’t tell you where, until I start. They have offered me a couple of weeks unpaid trial. I figure I can use that time to learn everything I can about copyrighting and find out if I am any good at it. I am very much looking forward to the opportunity to show how creative and productive I can be.

Interestingly, the manager who interviewed me referred to this blog. So it is just as well I have been taking it more seriously over the past months. I have been doing a fair bit of research for articles, then trying to write them in an appropriate tone for the subject matter. I have been searching for topics that are relevant and starting to trend, but are not overdone, like the posts I wrote on Kickstarter and Klout. I have also tried to ensure that fewer typos appear. So my efforts in writing this blog seem to be paying off.                                                      

Divine. 

Those who follow me on Facebook might remember me mentioning an article I was writing about the use of medical cannabis for the Divine website. I spent a lot of time researching it as there was a heap of recent information around. I also contacted a scientist who was doing research into its medical use as well as the Victorian Health Department to get the Victorian Government’s viewpoint.

I discussed the article with the Divine editor to ensure her that I would be writing an article that was even handed and would not be advocating an opinion on whether cannabis should be allowed for medical use. I wrote what I considered to be an article full of facts and totally opinion-less and submitted it. Unfortunately the article was knocked back by senior management.

I was extremely disappointed. I was disappointed to have something I had spent so much time researching and writing canned. I was also disappointed that I did not have the chance to inform people about the use of medical cannabis. There are a lot of people in pain out there, who traditional medicines have failed. I know about some of these people from my membership of two Facebook groups devoted to Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis.

I was also disappointed for the Divine website. I think an article on a controversial subject such as medical cannabis could have driven a lot of traffic to the website. But there’s the thing, I knew it was controversial, so I was not surprised when it was knocked back.

I intend to find another home for the article. It was very Victorian-centric, so I have rewritten it to suit Australian-wide markets. As a result, it is a much better article now.

I have told my fellow members of the Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis sites read the recent NSW Report into the use of medical cannabis. In my opinion, which is not even hinted at in the article, anyone who reads that report, and its many submissions, could only conclude that the medical use of cannabis should be legalised. The report recommended that cannabis be legalised for those with terminal illnesses.

I have written and submitted another article to Divine. This one required no research because it was about my personal experiences. Next weekend I plan to go to the Victorian Writers Festival where a couple of sessions will hopeful turn into more articles for Divine.