— Jenny Neill

Archive
Tag "writing"

It’s January what already? Whoa. The end of November and December came and went in a flurry of social engagements and assignment deadlines. The first public evidence of what I’ve been up to as a journalist graced the virtual pages of Sprudge.com earlier this month. Soon, I’ll hold a copy of the latest STiR Tea and Coffee Industry International in my hands. The first issue for 2014 contains more stories I wrote based on traveling to Let’s Talk Coffee, Let’s Talk Roya, and Sintercafe.

Line of dry ground coffee in sample cups with two spoons

Coffee samples, ready to be cupped.
Photo courtesy of Mike Russell Foto. All rights reserved.

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I left this blog-writing process behind a few months ago knowing that one day I would return to it. For a few weeks, I’ve been trying to figure out what to say. Do I tell you what’s been happening in my life while I was away? Do I explain the conclusion I’ve reached about myself when trying to answer the “Am I a blogger or am I a writer?” question.

Question Mark

Photo courtesy of Nicholas Noyes. Some rights reserved.

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November 1 marked more than the beginning of my blogging challenge. That evening, an eclectic assortment of writers, editors, and PR specialists gathered to discuss the latest trends for travel writers seeking to build their brand online. This was no stuffy, formal presentation. Myrna Oakley, chair of the Pacific NW Travel Writers Conference, included panelists and attendees alike in a dialogue about what’s hot and what’s not in social media.

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This year, I’ve been asked with increasing frequency what I know about using platforms like Kickstarter to fund book projects. Let me start by saying that I’ve not written a book (under my own name) nor have I used crowdsourcing to fund a project (yet). I am, however, a lifelong student of communications and technology with a keen interest in digital publishing.

Standing out when crowdsourcing

Photo courtesy of Haags Uitburo . Some rights reserved.

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November is upon us, the month of NaNoWriMo and many other writing challenges. I have tried my hand at churning out 50,000 words in one 30-day period a couple of times over the years. And, oh, how spectacularly I failed. One of my characters seemed to have multiple personalities. I could only manage to write another while she was in the most depressing of circumstances. And that plot kept taking more and more complicating twists into a jumbled mess of dead ends.

Beauty of November 2

Photo courtesy of Susy Morris of Chiot’s Run.

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I launched this blog in June of 2011 with a teaser post. It took another few months to get into something of a rhythm. It turned out not to be nearly as steady a cadence as I had intended to maintain.

75/365: Passage of Time

I imagined filling this blog with travel writing or maybe musings about food and wine. That I’d post weekly or more. And I failed. Especially with posting frequently. Failure is good. It gives us a chance to learn, to reconsider, to adapt.

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