Chillibreeze Interview with Shirley Sheba Simon

Shirley Sheba Simon Shirley is an author aspiring for excellence. She is a self-motivated professional with more than 7 years experience in marketing, client relationship and event management. She likes to read fiction and sometimes sketch in her free time.

1. Congratulations on being among the top 3 winners of the Chillibreeze 1st Quarter Article Writing Contest. How does it feel? Did you expect to finish among the top 3 entries?

Thank you for your wishes. I felt overjoyed when I first received the news. The feeling has still not passed. I was completely taken by surprise that I was one of the top 3 winners. When I submitted my article I was aware that there were probably hundreds of writers who were likely to have submitted their entries for the same contest and I felt that it was unlikely that my work would be chosen. But when I was told that I was one of the winners, it felt too good to be true.

2. How did you discover Chillibreeze? Tell us something about the sample article you wrote for us.

I was reading this book by Sreelata Menon on newbie freelance writers where I came across references to Chillibreeze. The book mentioned how it was one of the top websites in India working for several years - supporting and encouraging Indian writers. I was curious to know more and decided to check the site myself. It was heartening to learn about its efforts and I felt that I wanted to be associated with it.

I wrote my sample article on the subject - 'Are writing assessments a good way to measure writers' skills?'

I found this to be a very interesting subject since it is something that I have often wondered about. While writing this article, I came to know that there are no uniform platforms for such assessments. Assessments are dependant on who is conducting it and to what purpose. While some people prefer to get writing samples from the writers who they plan to hire; others create customised writing assessments to test the skills of the writer. Based on the result, the service of the respective writer is hired. Of course, there are many online platforms now available that provide free or paid-for assessments to test writers. These cover wide areas such as grammar, language, comprehension, composition, etc. Again, the diversity and depth of such assessments is driven by the needs or end goals of the client. However, we should also be aware that many individuals are now voluntarily engaging in such assessments to evaluate their own selves with respect to national and international writing standards.

3. Have you tried any writing assessments and courses? If yes, have you found them helpful when you started your career as a freelance writer?

I have tried a few writing assessments. I have found them helpful as they showed where I was making mistakes and the areas on which I needed to work.

4. You have been a Client Relationship Manager at Solutions Digitas. What does the role involve? How does one equip for roles like these?

While working as a Client Relationship Manager with Solutions Digitas, I had to be constantly on the move to ensure smooth operation of work processes and efficient execution of projects. One should have a clear understanding of the client's objectives and requirements to be able to deliver over and above the identified deliverables.

There are no strict guidelines of how one can prepare oneself for such a role but being focussed on work, committed towards meeting timelines, trying to be a good listener and being open to learning new things at every step of the way - helps in the long run.

5. Do you also need to be good with copywriting or it is sufficient to have marketing and people management skills?

Marketing, people management and copywriting go hand in hand. I personally believe that some proficiency in writing is a must to succeed in these fields. These skills are redundant if there is no good communication and communication cannot exist if writing skills are not cultivated and developed. As I have also mentioned in my article, writers shoulder immense responsibility in drafting all sorts of communication and the better the writer is, the better the output will be.

6. You moved on to freelance writing. What drew you to it? What kind of writing do you enjoy - marketing communication or other types of writing as well?

I moved onto freelance writing as a way to grow my writing skills. Freelance writing provides a lot of scope to engage on widespread subjects. There is so much to learn and develop one's skill set.

I am not specific on the type of writing I engage in. I am however comfortable with Marcom as I understand it owing to my experience. That said, we live in a dynamic world and I prefer keeping myself open to other types of writing too as it gives me an opportunity to work with something new.

7. Are you working on a book/collection of stories? If yes, could you share your experience in penning them down?

I have been lucky to successfully write and get my e-Book "Missing Mandy" published early this year. It is a fictional short story. My mother had always encouraged me to write for a very long time, but I just was not ready at that time. When the idea of this story came to me, I somehow felt that it had to be told to others. Therefore, I began to write.

It took me close to a year to get the book ready and it has been quite a learning experience. When we read a book, not many of us actually give much thought to how the author came about to write the story, what struggles they actually go through to create the characters, the plot, the places, the situations, etc. Believe me, it is very tough. I have worked and reworked my book so many times to be finally able to give it its present form. And it’s an exhilarating feeling to see it available for people to read. The response from readers is the only thing that matters.

I am currently working on my second one and hope to be able to publish it very soon.

8. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about yourself? Perhaps something interesting about you, that people are always surprised to hear?

The very fact that I have written a book has surprised many. What very few people know is that I like to sketch too in my spare time. I love listening to music. But my first love is reading fiction.

Check the results of the writing contest for the First Quarter, 2012

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