WEEKEND-ENGAGEMENT TOPICS: WEEK 283
Hello friends, how is your weekend? This weekend I'm going to sing again with the flamenco choir “Our Things” in a theater in a nearby town, Salobreña. The truth is that I really enjoy this new hobby, singing. It cheers me up and makes me happy. Music has been a part of my life since I was very young. I like Spanish music. Being part of the choir has also helped me meet people in the town where I live. Basically people my age, over fifty. I'm surprised that younger people don't feel like joining, but that's how it is. There's only one young person in the choir, a girl, who plays the guitar. What I always did, from a very young age, was read and write. I'll write about that this weekend. I'm going to write on the following topic proposed by @galenkp:
What are you an expert in (or think you are an expert in?) Explain.
To be or not to be
Generally, when we finish high school, we are not very clear about what we want to do professionally. I was drawn to psychology, perhaps because I was a misfit who had trouble fitting in socially. I thought that maybe if I studied human behavior, it would help me understand people better. I didn't like most of the teenagers around me, nor did I like the behavior of some of the adults around me. But I really liked reading. A lot.
My literature teacher sent me to interview a writer at the Faculty of Arts and recommended that I attend some classes, because it might be better for me to study language and literature. So I did, I went to some literature classes at the Central University of Venezuela and finally, after finishing high school the following year, I enrolled in the Faculty to study literature. Although I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do professionally in the future. It would probably have been better for me to study journalism, which also has to do with writing and has a wider field of work, but my teacher guided me towards literature.
With Professor Mario Fernández and my classmate David Epstein on my high school graduation day.
My professional beginnings
My professional career began before I finished my degree in Literature, in two different areas, during my final year of study: education and publishing. I started teaching creative writing courses in libraries and other cultural spaces and worked as a secretary in the Publications Department of the Rómulo Gallegos Foundation for Latin American Studies, an important public cultural institution at the time. It was a very enriching learning experience. Later, I worked as production and media manager for a publishing house, where I consolidated my knowledge of book proofreading and editing.
This is me when I was a young writer and educator
At that time, when I began my professional career as an educator and book editor, I also began my journey as a writer. And those three paths have always been intertwined. As I taught literature and writing courses, I improved my own writing and acquired tools to better support others in editing and publishing their books. My work enriched me and helped others. A cultural foundation asked me if I could teach vacation courses on writing children's stories, and I also worked with children for a few years. It was a very nice experience. Children are very creative students.
With some of my young students from the storytelling workshop
Arianne, a young student, some years ago
Workshop for children in Petare, a working-class neighborhood in Caracas
The beginning of my work as a freelancer
After several years working for public and private institutions, with low income, I started working as a freelancer, working on specific editing and publishing projects or helping individuals who want to publish a book but don't know how to do it. I find it more productive $$$$.
With my client María Candel, whom I have helped to proofread and edit two books
Presenting a book at the Chacao Book Fair, my neighborhood when I lived in Caracas
With my client Paco Giommi, presenting a novel that I helped edit
Similarly, I began offering my literary workshops independently to various public and private institutions, which provide me with a space and support to promote my workshops in exchange for a percentage of the fees. A few years ago, I also taught classes at the Central University of Venezuela and workshops at the University of Carabobo.
Workshop on Poetry for students at the University of Carabobo
My students Creative Writing and Image Workshop at Hacienda La Trinidad Cultural Park
Creative Writing and Image Workshop at Hacienda La Trinidad Cultural Park, another group
Yes, I can say that I am an expert teacher of writing and literature, and an expert proofreader and book editor, after thirty years dedicated to these jobs. But for me it is not just a profession, a way to earn money; for me it has been a vocation, something I enjoy doing, something that motivates me and at the same time helps and makes my clients in the publishing industry happy, as well as those who enroll in my courses. This journey through my professional career in the world of literature has brought me joy. Thank you to @galenkp for proposing the topic and thank you to those who have accompanied me with their reading on this journey.
photo of me teaching at the Creative Writing and Image workshop
Since my native language is not English, I have had to rely on the Deepl.com platform to translate this article into English.
📸 All photos belong to my personal photo álbum
