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The diverse Life

Woo Hoo!! Another featured article!

Thanks to Sum and Kea, I found out that my post on self-help was published in The Star in Malaysia! Another RM50 in the bag. See snapshot courtesy of Sum’s camera phone.

BUT, i’ve got a slight rant here… they’ve edited my article!! The post I submitted was like this, but they’ve chopped and changed it to become like this! I feel it has taken away the flavour of the article. :( Was going to post this in their blog, but it might get censored anyway. Maybe the RM50 is a sweetener.

p/s: even the title was changed!

pp/s: maybe if you leave some comments in their blog they might think otherwise? unless if you happen to agree with their censorship… :(

Discussion

4 comments for “Woo Hoo!! Another featured article!”

  1. Congratulation ! Great Jobs… !!! Perhaps your article is the ‘phoenix’ above the branches. ;)

    Posted by mikanico | June 17, 2006, 7:43 pm
  2. I’m an editor and my background is in both newspapers and magazines. Most writers don’t realize that editors have to work with space limitations, so the article usually has to be cut. Headlines are also especially tricky. They have to fit the space and ALWAYS have to be changed from what the writer wanted. I have never seen a headline that a writer submitted actually get used for a piece. The reason again is space limitations. Most experienced writers don’t even submit headlines except, perhaps, as suggestions.

    So don’t take the changes too seriously. Just be proud that you got published.

    Posted by chessman71 | June 19, 2006, 8:00 am
  3. No wonder your articles are so well articulated! The thought of space constraints did occur to me, so thanks for the confirmation! I did have a more cynical view, that my article is not providing value as much as the ads surrounding it, so it’s relegated to a smaller space. I will learn to be more positive in time. :) Thanks for the comment chessman.

    Posted by Shang Lee | June 19, 2006, 11:08 am
  4. No, no. I’m sure it wasn’t cut because it wasn’t valuable. Articles get moved all the time because the senior editor will want to see something at the top or the middle of the page, or some certain arrangement of articles will look better or more natural. So they just move things around and shorten articles as needed. Even the best reporters get their stuff cut all the time.
    One suggestion, start a book with all your clips that you’ve written. Then you can sell yourself as a writer as you get more of them. It’s a good way to make money on the side. Congratulations again!

    Posted by chessman71 | June 23, 2006, 10:48 pm

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