Rupamala Singh is a freelance writer, marketing professional, experienced journalist and trainer from Delhi. She comes from a background of media marketing and journalism. She currently works as the Head of communications and marketing with Pathways, an education service provider.
Click here to listen to Rupamala’s audio interview
Please tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started as a writer?
Well I started my career as a sub editor for a telegraph in Calcutta – went from journalism to teaching and then marketing media and now marketing education but all the while the connectors remain with writing and training.
What motivated you to pursue writing as a career?
Well as a young girl the profession of journalism attracted me a lot. The pleasure of writing it’s immense, so I loved it. And of course also the ultimate thrill was seeing one’s name in the by line of a newspaper;.
What is your favorite part about freelance writing?
The most important thing that attracts me is the freedom to write on the subject of my own choice – in addition to that there are is to some extent there is a freedom from deadlines – I’m saying to some extent because complete escape is impossible – you have deadlines in any case – right. Then the third thing that I see is very important is its own time work – flexibility of work schedule and the last thing is the flexibility of medium – if you are on the roles of for company a media company then you are bound to legally to write content for only one medium and one for group – whereas you are freelancing you can write for all medium made be virtual, print, or provide content for electronic media you can do anything.
What is the best feedback you have received about your work?
Well once I had written a travelogue in which I had mentioned the discovery of a giant dinosoraus fossils and seeing my article I was called to speak about my experience at the archaeological society of India and this has happened when I was very young. So speaking to a forum of scientists when as a young writer was an amazing experience.
The Internet has changed everything about content and writing. How do you usually go about finding freelance work? Is it online on bidding websites/via referrals/by writing query letters/any other means
Mine has primarily by referrals and websites like Chillibreeze have been extremely helpful. So because I am a journalist and I have my own network – referrals has worked very well for me.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your interests
Well I would consider myself to be a bit of an artist, a bit of a designer large portion of content and a small dose of marketing … this is just a joke on a serious thought I think the question is on my interest in writing – so I love writing on travel – I love to write about places, food and lifestyle- and I have also done a lot of work on company and industry specific story based on research.
What about payments? Do companies you work with pay well and on time?
I have had a very good experience regarding payments so far – one does have to be very careful and prudent and the rest falls in place naturally.
What are some of the challenges you routinely face as a freelance writer in India?
If we take it generally as an industrial writer in India who wants to freelance – then the worry is there are too many writers and too little quality. And also perhaps in this particular area writers are not organized – so maybe a portal like yours Chillibreeze could provide a service where freelancers get organized under various heads – based on content. Otherwise I’ve seen it – it’s very disorganised, everybody is getting into everybody’s territory.
What tips would you offer a newbie writer?
Oh that very simple – write well, do not copy – plagiarism is dead for all of us and there is so much of that happening nowadays – and get in touch with the right people who value your work.
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