Illumination | New Writer | Introduction

Hi, I’m Alexa. I’m a native English speaker, based in Europe, and I am a (new) writer in Illumination.

You will notice, straight away in the sub-heading, that I am a lot of things. In fact, my road here was a rather interesting and bumpy one.

For a long time, I thought life was taking me far away from becoming a writer, even though it’s what I wanted to be since I was a kid. Today, that’s exactly what I am, and more.

From writer to an artist, back to a writer

I have been writing since I could write. …

“There are multiple grammatical mistakes in your piece. Please review and correct them before resubmitting to our publication.” I have heard this on several occasions when submitting an article somewhere (not exclusively on Medium).

Most of the time, this will include words written in British English, rather than American English such as:

• Favourite to favorite
• Learnt to learned
• Realise to realize

This is the style that I am used to writing in. Even now, my writing extension is having a field day with these spellings.

I think that most of the time, these are marked as “wrong” because Grammarly is…

Why do you only hear about romantic relationships ending?

Previously, I had been wondering if friendships are like relationships. You always hear, see and read about relationships, and how they end.

Someone cheats.

Someone no longer carries the same feelings.

Someone’s personality changes so much that it no longer aligns with what someone else is looking for.

Or, sometimes, both parties feel that the relationship is no longer what they want from each other, usually for the cause of having drifted apart, and therefore, it’s mutually decided that it’s best to part ways. …

Editors are everywhere. Editors are not just the people who read a manuscript and put red all over it. Editors deal with many types of content; online, beta, fiction, non-fiction, B2B or B2C (business-to-business or business-to-customer), etc.

I have worked with many types of editors over the years. I have worked in different fields over the years. From the photography industry to the arts industry, to the academic journals industry, and now, the commercial writing industry.

Here’s the thing though; editors don’t always know best.

And now all the editors reading this seethe between their teeth. You, a proud editor…

I have been writing for as long as I can remember now. At the same time, I have been an academic student, in third-level education, for 5 years now (ah, the fun of doing a Master’s degree).

Over the years, I have gone through many trials and tribulations about writing for myself while also writing in my degree, and writing in my job. There has always been an awful lot of writing but there were many times when there was just so much going on between studying and wanting to write for myself that it was hard to find a…

Organization is an interesting skill. It seems to have almost become a trend to bask in the inability to be organized — to be scatter-brained and messy. However, while some people work better in slightly chaotic environments (something about an adrenaline rush), being unorganized might become your worst enemy.

Truth be told, being disorganized might hold you back from your career goals. It doesn’t matter what area you are working in, recruiters are always on the lookout for those who can keep on top of deadlines, manage themselves effectively and have a keen eye for detail. …

• Hot or cold patches for joints & ice packs
• Anti-inflammatory medication
• A crutch or a knee brace, worn almost daily
• Lubricant injections
• The question of surgery and whether it’s an option for me (hint: the answer is always no.)
• Constantly looking for new homeopathic treatments for my knee
• Pushed over on crowded buses while holding a crutch
• Not being let to sit down on packed metros in the morning, while either holding a crutch or wearing a visible knee brace
• Elderly citizens belittling me for sitting in priority seats and refusing to stand up for them

Such has been my…

I have been writing since before I knew how to spell. I was always scribbling words, writing stories made up of gibberish. It didn’t matter what I was writing about, it just mattered that I was writing. This stuck with me throughout my entire childhood and straight into adulthood now. Throughout the years, I took every opportunity to better my writing, and I felt confident in myself. Throughout my early university career, I spent three of the four years on the student media team tasked with writing up articles about whatever topic they asked for. …