MAJ Archives

A journalist's profile, stories and career in the field of journalism. Know a journalist who should be profiled here? Send an e-mail to Janet E. Bardon.

October 26, 2001
Kathy Smith
Freelance Writer
Victoria, British Columbia
ksmith@islandnet.com

In 1993, I worked for a non-profit organization for people with mental illness as an administrative coordinator. Part of my duties included taking minutes of various meetings. One day, someone commented to me that I was very good at being able to listen to several people at once and put down only the pertinent information essential to the meeting process.

As I enjoyed these kinds of meetings, I decided to branch out to affiliated organizations and propose contracts as a minute-taker. I was successful in gaining several of these positions, and at one point, I worked for many key government mental health committees.

Around that time, my sister, who, at that time, was the editor of a monthly health care newspaper, suggested that I might like to write an article or two for her (bear in mind, I would not have been published unless my work was up to standard - this had nothing to do with favouritism!).

So I began writing the odd article just for the fun of it, thinking I would just write a few articles and leave it at that. But as time went on, I discovered I really enjoyed interviewing and writing, so I spent one and a half years as the Victoria correspondent for the mental health column. I thoroughly enjoyed the work.

Still, even at that point, I didn't feel I was a writer. I wasn't one of those dedicated ones, always querying every possible market and building relationships with several editors. I liked my stint as a monthly columnist. It gave me time to do other things and there certainly wasn't the pressure of a weekly deadline. Once a month fit in really well with my lifestyle.

People who found out I was writing would ask me where I went to school or how I knew I wanted to be a writer. They were always surprised to hear me say, "Well, I've never been to journalism school," and "I never knew I wanted to be a writer. I just fell into it."

And it's true. I could not have imagined being a freelance writer. For most of my working life, I'd always had corporate-type jobs. Most did require basic writing skills, but writing articles for newspapers and magazines was the last thing on my mind!

I'm still not one of those nose-to-the-grindstone writers. It's a secondary line of work for me at the moment, but is the one I'm most passionate about. My type of articles aren't the ones that cover politics, consumerism or life's philosophies, but ones that can take a reader through a bird's-eye view of someone struggling to live as normal a life as possible while dealing with devastating mental health or health issues. That's where my passion is - in being able to educate the public about these people and issues in a sensitive, unbiased manner. That's what brings me the most satisfaction.

In the mid 1990's, I attended the first Victoria School of Writing and spent three glorious days learning about non-fiction writing. Not only did I find the information very beneficial in expanding my knowledge of writing techniques, etc., but I also found out about an amazing writers organization called PWAC (Periodical Writer's Association of Canada).

My instructor at the school was a PWAC member and he highly recommended joining the group. At that time, I still wasn't sure I wanted to get more involved with writing, so it wasn't until about a year or so afterward that I joined the group. It was the best move I've ever made.

Joining PWAC puts a writer in touch with hundreds of other writers all over the country who can network, share advice and information about every writing issue. It takes the isolation out of writing and helps give a person inspiration and motivation to keep going.

Since joining PWAC, I have written more articles and have been more motivated to write than I ever thought I'd be. There are definite drawbacks to the writing business; one major factor being copyright infringement. My advice to any new writer is to educate, educate, educate yourself about copyright and all that you can about how the business of writing works.

There are so many of us who write for different reasons, who have different experiences, knowledge and goals which is why I think it's so important to join a writer's group. None of us can know everything and we are all challenged trying to keep up with the latest news in the writing world. Having others you can talk to about writing should definitely be part of your overall strategy as a writer. Your success depends on it.