The Writer’s Daughter 2.0?

Eyup. Welcome to The Writer’s Daughter 2.0. It’s more like version 10.0 but hey, let’s forget about that. My first post as TWD was back in April 2015, nearly three years ago, so I guess blogging didn’t go so well for me. But after a quick revamp, a new website and a better state of mind, I’m back.

Here’s a quick update for the last few years. I graduated, had a break up, moved back to York, changed jobs a number of times, worked too many hours, then worked too few hours, got out of debt, changed my future career path a few too many times, got back into debt, made a fabulous circle of new friends, launched a magazine, worked too many hours again, stopped working on the magazine, mixed in with a lot of mental health related shit, and then two months ago I moved back to London again. The only way to explain how I am now is that I finally feel free. I’m still not doing what I want to be doing career wise, but I have projects that I’m excited to work on in my spare time and I have a clear view of where I want to be.

Which brings us on to why this blog is back. I’ve always known I’ve wanted to work in an industry to do with books and stories. This vision got set back when I pursued the design path rather than writing. Even throughout my Fashion Design degree, I enjoyed writing about my work, researching through books and reading all about the subject of my collections, rather than the designing itself. After I graduated, I’d convinced myself that I wanted to continue to work within design. I’d put in so much effort to gain the skills, I might as well use them, right? Well funnily enough, I didn’t get any of the jobs I applied for because quite simply, my heart wasn’t in it. Then moving back to York and working within retail and hospitality allowed me to spend my spare time writing and reading.

I had re-found my love for words.

The next step for me, was to launch an online magazine where I interviewed people in creative industries. It gave me a reason to write and I loved, and still do, the process of discovering and reaching out to people to interview. Life took over, resulting in losing all motivation to continue with the magazine. Then two months ago, an opportunity arose to up and move from York to London. It’s safe to say I grabbed this with both hands and ran with it. Within a week I had transferred jobs and handed notice in on my house. Three weeks later, I loaded up my friends car and we set off on my new, exciting journey.

Since being in London and being able to refocus on what I want to achieve I’ve been able to see a clear path of where to go from now.

In terms of career, I want to pave my way into the publishing industry. Why not work in an industry that brings me so much joy on a daily basis? Which is where The Writer’s Daughter comes in. It will become a place to mostly talk books and life. To develop my skills on how I talk about books, to expand my knowledge on Book Prizes and events, and to find fellow book lovers. To help with this I’ve launched an Instagram just for this blog, so go give it a follow and show some love.

I’m hoping to change my day job in the meantime to work in a book shop. I want to learn about why people choose each book, what do they look for and what caught their attention? How did they hear about the book? Do they read specific authors and why? I just need to know more about it all.

Lastly, the magazine will be coming back. I’m currently in the midst of re-branding everything and it will continue to be my passion project. I’m hoping to receive a little more help from people this time round though, reaching out to writers and contributors to share their views. The concept is going to change slightly and focus on more ethical and educational content, but more about that coming in the new year!

So, why not follow the journey of a twenty-something year old northern gal finding her way round London and into the publishing world?