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Freelancer of the fortnight: Marilyn Devonish, Watford

Posted: 17/09/07 By: Antonia Stemp

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Why did you choose to become a freelancer?
I became a freelancer by accident. I did some work with a journalist who was feeling down and suffering with depression.

She was impressed with what I did so she wrote about me in her magazine, and also passed my details to other journalists who then started inviting me to give expert comment on relevant topics and issues that they were covering.

Eventually I started writing contributions and articles for them and the rest, as they say, is history!

What areas do you write about?
I tend to write a lot about relationships as it's a topic that I regularly speak on at shows and exhibitions. In addition to that my specialist field is emotional health and well-being.

Which publications have you been published in?
I have currently write a monthly column for Spirit&Destiny magazine and have been published in Natural Health, Women's Health, Top Sante, Zest, New Woman, Health Plus, Aesthetic Medicine, The Metro, Slimming Magazine, Health & Fitness, The Watford Observer, Pass Accountancy Magazine, Boost, Here's Health, Tesco Healthy Living Magazine and The Daily Mirror.

Which articles are you the most proud of?
I still remember the very first time that I had something published. It was only a paragraph within a larger article, but none the less it was a great feeling and I remember everything about that day because I'd put a goal in my Time Line several months earlier, and everything came to pass in the way that I had written it.

Having my own double page spread a couple of times was also great, and I was particularly proud of my monthly relationship Problem Page with Here's Health magazine.

What are the best and worst aspects of freelancing?
The best is seeing your ideas and thoughts in print and getting calls and e-mails from people saying how they have used what you have written to change something in their life.

The worst is the frustration of being ignored by publications that you really want to write for, and having loads of ideas that remain unpublished.

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