PR & Communications | Editing | Writing
The realm of public relations (PR) and communications can seem at once fascinating and overwhelming; so much can be achieved through this, and yet everything about it seems alien and unknown. What is PR and communications, really? And is PR the same as communications? (If PR = comms, then why is it PR and comms? …
So, the latest issue of my blood, sweat and tears is now published (psst, check out Volume 5 Issue 2 here), and I'm so happy/relieved/tired I could cry. I literally slaved over this issue. Reviewing, editing, graphic design, admin work. You name any step in the publication/production process, I've done it. Cover and TOC previews: …
Ever find yourself in a state of creative stagnancy? In a state where all you do is stare at a blank screen/canvas and nothing comes out of you besides a salt-and-vinegar-chips-flavoured burp? If you've never had the pleasure of experiencing that dark hole (literally—cause the blank canvas can certainly drain you dry), you're lucky. I've …
Some days, that's my reaction. I'm angrily, frustratedly, despairingly screaming in my head (or sometimes at the loquat tree in the backyard)—NEVER AGAIN!!! Some days, some editors drive me up the wall with edits that have nothing to do with the writing or the story, but everything to do with personal preference. And then there are …
It's no secret that I'm a firm believer in literature/the arts being able to shape society and create a collective identity/forge a collective bond. It's also no secret that I'm a big fan of horror literature, and even more so of Singaporean (Singapore pride!) horror literature. As a kid growing up, my friends and I …
As a writer (and for many researchers and academics as well), getting your work published is one of the biggest goals we have (next to earning enough from our work to keep us going). But why is it so hard to get published? Often, publishers and commissioning editors have a specific work in mind, and …
A (not so) long, long time ago, I was proofreading the final copy of a magazine (I won’t name it, for obvious reasons) as a favour, and I was happily going about my business until one of the articles (purportedly written by a self-professed “feminist”) made me want to cover my face with my hands …
Being a good writer in a particular genre, on a particular medium, does not necessarily mean that we're able to transpose that same writing ability and apply it to different media. To put it in no-nonsense terms... different media require different styles of writing! While writing an academic/research paper more often than not requires rather long …
So I recently had a conversation with another writer friend of mine, and we went into a rant-like discussion about what writers really need from editors. Because trust me, though the two have to work very closely with each other, there's a lot—a lot—of tension, especially when it comes to creative differences. So I've come up …
Geraldine Stallard 