A Redundant Workers Perspective – Getting back into work

Hi Everyone

For those of you who don’t know, I have a Facebook page to support this blog and one of my followers of this page has written a beautiful account of his journey back into work.

“Hello I have been following this page since I was made redundant in September 2012 and Sandra has asked me to say something about my experiences so far .It has certainly beena rollercoaster ride of emotions almost a type of grief when you find yourself at home after so long 21 years for me in the same role however looking back they probably did me a favour .I amlucky in that I had a longstanding art hobby which has run alongside my work and for long people had said go professional but I never had the curage however when the decision was made for me I had no choice One of the first things I did was vounteer at my daughters school helping with an art class which I loved and built a rapport with the kids and staff this also gave me confidence in my own art .I did the usuall trawling the internet to no avil but really knowing my future was in art.On the day I applied for details of a teaching assistant course I went to an open day at an insurance company to talk about customer service roles.I loved this as they told me that experience wasn’t needed just personality and enthusiasm .I applied and was accepted .Now three months later I have completed training and am now learning the job .Its not easy but rewarding and the next six months are crucial.I’ve continued to paint and am exhibiting widely and planning a range of my own greeting cards from my paintings and several outlets are interested .Long term I would to self publish my own cards and have my own business.It hasn’t been easy but I promise you there is life after redundancy and far from beaten I feel released to do new things .I still have down days and I must admit I’m not my own greatest fan but I plogh on .You can catch up with my exploits atwww.Facebook.com/MatthewEvansArtist.Good luck also to Sandra with this great work onward ever onward and best wishes to you all .Stay strong .”

Before you ask me to use a spell checker, as a writer I always check my work for spelling errors but I have purposefully kept Matthew’s account exactly as he has written it, so that you know that I am not fabricating his story. If you wish to see it on Facebook go to http://www.facebook.com/beatredundancyblues

Thanks to Matthew Evans for posting this, it gives great insight and hope to many others. I wish you much success with your artwork and let us know how you get on.

Stay positive

Sandra Bellamy

 

Winner of Write-A-Thon?

Hi Everyone

An enormous thanks to everyone who has taken part in the win a signed copy of Write-A-Thon competition, that is written by Author and Writing Coach Rochelle Melander.

All entries have been amazing and it has been wonderful to read your comments, see your Likes and to interact with all of you.

We have had an incredible 57 entries to the competition and in order to select a winner fairly, I let Rafflecopter make the decision by choosing a winner at random.

And the winner is ———– Amy O. Who answered the question, “What does writing mean to you?”

Amy’s answer: “It means I get to say what I want, when I want, however I want, and as often as I want.”

I thought her answer was great because I could relate to it myself, although I would probably have added “and no one can tell me I can’t.”

Some of the other answers were:

“It means I can unchain myself from the books in my head.”

“The freedom to find and use my own voice.”

“I hate it. I love having done it. An act of masochistic extreme creativity.”

“Writing is how I express ideas and opinions that come to me and communicate them to others, using my words to make them feel what I felt while writing.”

“Writing is leaving a legacy.”

“Everything! Without writing I’m not sure I could consider myself sane, there are plot lines and character quotes roaming around my head that keep telling me I must be written. ”

Write soon

Sandra

Get Ready! How to Prepare for National Novel Writing Month NOW By Rochelle Melander a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hi Everyone

I know when I was made redundant, I saw it as an opportunity to live my dreams by taking my writing more seriously and getting some of it published. If you have ever thought that you have always wanted to write a book but never had the time, now is the time to seize the moment and just do it.

Today we have a guest blog article by Author and Writing Coach Rochelle Melander and we are giving away a free signed copy of her book, Write-A-Thon, to one lucky person. All you have to do to enter the giveaway competition is to answer a few questions by clicking on the Rafflecopter Giveaway Link in the title of this post. In the meantime I will hand you over to Rochelle.

As a former Girl Scout, I’ve never forgotten the scouting motto: Be Prepared. Even thought school has just started and November seems far away—I’m getting ready for National Novel Writing Month right now. After several years of succeeding at NaNoWriMo and one epic fail, I’ve learned how to prepare. Here are three practices from my toolbox that will help you get ready for the month-long writing marathon:

1. Train Your Writing Muscles. NaNoWriMo novices often end up like the proverbial weekend warrior, jumping into the month with gusto only to be grounded by injury (my aching neck) or discouragement. Schedule daily writing time throughout the rest of September and October. Write daily pages, craft poems, or do fiction-writing prompts—just get words on paper each day. By the end of October you’ll be a seasoned writing professional, easily able to amass 1667 words a day! As a bonus, you’ll have already created space in your daily schedule to write.

2. Create a Story Bible. Filmmakers and television writers make use of a show bible—a document that contains information about character, setting and plot. Take time to create your own Story Bible for your National Novel Writing Month project. In past years, I’ve used three-ring binders, spiral notebooks, and index cards to collect my ideas about character, setting, and plot long before the month starts. During some of your writing time each day, create histories for your characters. Collect photos of your setting. Sketch out several scenes. In the middle of National Novel Writing Month, you won’t have to wonder what your characters might wear or do— you will just have to consult your story bible.

3. Collect energy boosts. Writing a book in a month takes an enormous amount of energy. During the next month and a half, pay attention to the activities that increase your energy. For me these include taking daily walks, eating healthy snacks, stretching, reading fun magazines, and listening to music. I’m collecting these ideas on a Pinterest board, so that when I hit the proverbial wall—I’ll have easy-to-access solutions. (http://pinterest.com/writenowcoach/exercises-food-and-tools-4-overwhelmed-writers/) I’m also stockpiling energy boosts in my office. I have a shelf in my closet that I am filling with yummy snacks, inspiring books and magazines, and a few new music albums. (Wow, I can’t wait for NaNoWriMo to start!)

Your turn. What are you doing to get ready for the month-long novel writing challenge?

Rochelle Melander is an author, speaker, and certified professional coach. She is the author of ten books, including Write-A-Thon: Write Your Book in 26 Days (and Live to Tell About It)Rochelle teaches professionals how to write good books fast, use writing to transform their lives, navigate the publishing world, and get published! Visit her online at www.writenowcoach.com

Rochelle Y. Melander

Author and Writing Coach

Editor, The Word in Season

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author of the book,

Write-A-Thon: Write Your Book in 26 Days 

(And Live to Tell About It)

(Writers Digest Books, October 2011)

A 2011 ForeWord Book of the Year Finalist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.writenowcoach.com

http://www.writenowmastermind.com

rochelle@WriteNowCoach.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Find me on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

Competition closes on Friday 28th September 2012.

Making the News – Living the dream

Hi Everyone

Had someone told me several years ago that I would be a blogger, a serious writer and social media user and an entrepreneur, I would have probably laughed at them and commented something like “Yeah! Get real!” Yet here I am, being all of those things and loving every single minute of it.

I was mentioned in The New York Times this week for a blog article that I had written for Exclusive HR company, click the link below to view the mention, it is under Your People: A Virtual Company’s Culture: boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/this-week-in-small-business-best-facebook-pages

If you want to see the article I did for Exclusive, here is the link: exclusive-thinking.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/redundancy-advice

Kathryn Snodgrass from agimy.com has written a bog article about beatredundancyblues, check out the link: www.agimy.com/blog

I have also just launched my Facebook page for my sister company quirkybooks.net. Here is the link below: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quirkybooksnet/144394649036836

If you love writing and haven’t yet read my writing blog, to take a look at: quirkybooks.wordpress.com

Q: So how do quirkybooks.net and beatredundancyblues work together?

A: quirkybooks.net is currently a basic website about me and my writing. Over the next few months you will see it unravelling into an e-book store in front of your eyes and I plan to have several books written over time, some of which will specifically help people who are redundant to get back into work. As with writing anything, it all takes time and I hope you can join me on my journey – Who knows, maybe one day you will be part of my book of how it all happened and how it can happen for you too.

In the meantime – stay positive

Sandra Bellamy

(Image supplied by CrunchBase)

Related articles

• In the New York Times – A Writer’s Dream Come True (quirkybooks.wordpress.com)
• Join my award-winning writing blog > quirkybooks.wordpress.com (beatredundancyblues.wordpress.com)
• Launch of Facebook beatredundancyblues company page (beatredundancyblues.wordpress.com)

Launch of Facebook beatredundancyblues company page

Hi Everyone

Thanks to those who helped make my IAG rewards list so enjoyable. It’s back to work for me now and what better way to celebrate than with the launch of my beatredundancyblues company page on Facebook.

You can see my page by clicking this link: http://www.facebook.com/beatredundancyblues  You are most welcome to look, comment, Like or share my page and if you want to know more you can also contact me at: beatredundancyblues@beatredundancyblues.com

I have also updated my newly qualified title to Redundancy and Unemployment Specialist Support Advisor, Consultant, Trainer and Writer. I will be offering a range of products and services to help people who are redundant and unemployed, to get back into work.

beatredundancyblues.com is still being designed and so you will not be able to access it until it’s launch but you can refer to this blog for help and advice in the meantime.

Another celebration is the fact that my writing blog http://quirkybooks.wordpress.com has won a second award called the One Lovely Blog Award, you may want to check it out.

For those of you who use LinkedIn my page is http://uk.linkedin.com/in/sandrabellamy please get in touch.

You can also tweet me @beatredundancyb or use the contact form below to have your say.

Stay positive Sandra Bellamy

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