Interview with Writer and Editor Sian Meades

by Marian Schembari on October 23, 2009

I’ve wrangled the lovely writer Sian Meades, all the way from Londontown, to give me the scoop on her sweet job, even sweeter site, and equally delicious new projects (I’m hungry, what do you want?). Take a look:

Tell me a little about what you do.

I’m a freelance writer and web editor. I write for everyone from AOL to Lastminute.com and I also run a website called Domestic Sluttery. It’s about interiors and style and is dubbed “the home and lifestyle for women who have better things to do”. I’m lucky that I get to write about fun things, but there’s also something cool about knowing someone has bought something you’ve featured and it’s made them happy. I’m pretty obsessed with design. Constantly. I’m such a magpie. I think that’s spilling over into my jewellery design and photography – something I’ve only just started learning about.

What made you want to be a writer?

I’ve always wanted to write. Since I could pick up a book. It was Terry Nation’s book Rebecca’s World that started it when I was a kid (I coincidentally blogged about that last week). I’m working on the third draft of my novel at the moment which is really exciting. That said, I’m freelance by accident – I took a chance and quit my job on a whim, no one would hire me in a full-time role because I wasn’t experienced enough. That was about two years ago. I wouldn’t change a thing now.

sianytwestival1 210x300 Interview with Writer and Editor Sian MeadesHow did you come up with the idea for Domestic Sluttery?

That was completely by accident. I set up a site called Cocktails & Cake, which I guess was an early incarnation of DS even if I didn’t realize it at the time. I wasn’t very experienced then and I think DS came at the right time – there’s an awful lot of cooking sites, and some fab design blogs, but none that mix the two. I think the recession has actually been good for us – people get so excited when they buy something we feature. We only blog about things that we think are special. But it’s not just me behind the site – there’s a large team of girls who make it brilliant. Without them it would just be me cooing over plates.

Explain a little about what the editorial process is like for an online publication.

It’s busy. Sure it’s fun, but there are nights when I work until 2am without even thinking about it. I spend at least 4 hours of my freelance day on the site. We publish about 6 posts a day, and there are ten of us working on the site. But it’s the behind the scenes stuff that takes the most time – organizing images, competitions and discounts. Talking to PRs, trying to get invites to events (which is much harder for a blog, believe me). But, there are some great perks too – having an instant reaction to a designer you love is my favorite thing. When I love something, I cross my fingers when I hit publish and usually, they’re the posts that get comments right away. It’s so much fun when that happens.

Online writing is quicker. Faster, punchier. But people mistake being laid-back for being lazy. We work hard to make sure that doesn’t happen. Just because we’re friendly and engaging on the site, that doesn’t mean we don’t take it seriously. It’s a fine balance.

How do you balance the freelance life with your “regular” life? Do they often blend? Is that good or bad?

I’m so lucky that I enjoy my job, but I’m not very good at balancing. At all, actually. I’m getting better, but if something needs doing, I’ll do it and then go out. But for the time being, the site is coming first. That said, it’s nice to put the laptop down, watch a film and ignore my emails. I don’t get to do it very often, but it’s great when I do.

Any upcoming projects?

Personally? Hopefully I’ll have my novel finished by Christmas (so probably March) and I’ve just started a new diary project – I’m sending postcard to myself. It sounds strange (more here) but it’s the first writing project I’ve done just for me in a long time. I start this weekend and I’m really excited.

Most of the projects for DS I can’t talk about yet but they’re really exciting. There’s always something new coming up in online publishing. Most of the silly ideas I have I jump on straight away. I’m also working on a brand new website that’s set to launch next year. It’s totally separate from Domestic Sluttery so it’s going to be great to work on something new. I haven’t worked out yet how I’m going to juggle the two.

Advice for aspiring writers?

Write. Blog. Write some more. Blogging gives you an outlet to write every day. Even if you don’t want to write online, having a blog let’s you discover what you enjoy writing about. It doesn’t matter what you’re writing about, as long as you’re write regularly. You’ll find your niche. And it’ll probably be something you never saw coming.

Thanks Sian! Not entirely sure if I’ve linked to her enough, but here it is again. And just to promote her a bit more, Sian is one of the most self sufficient, creative, brave, brilliant women I know. Really. We should all do ourselves a favor and take a page out of her book :)

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