My insparation behind becoming a excellent feature writer

 By Wendy Ngcobo

As a young  upcoming journalist and feature writer I knew in order to be the best at what I do ,I needed to have someone I can gain knowledge  from, study their style of writing so I could be able to develop my own style of writing.

That day came in February when I first met Shelly Seid who is a journalist and feature writer for the Times .It was the beginning of a New Year and semester for me as a second year journalism student. Shelly came in  oozing power and skill which made her quite intimidating .I looked at her with panic as she pondered on us on what makes an excellent feature writer.

 I knew then that this was a woman I could learn form from. My first article to her was a profile which I ended up having to rewrite four times. Ever since then I have learned a lot form her and my writing has also improved.

Shelly emphasised that she was not a born writer but she has had to master and constantly learn .Something that was quite encouraging because as somebody that was new in the field I realised that I too could master this trade. She has inspired me to become a good feature writer, always stressing out that one should always have in mind who you’re writing for.”People don’t want to hear your opinion”, but the way you write can steer them in that direction without using the word ‘I’.

The day I write about a boring topic and make it interesting in a way that people read and say “wow that is an attention-grabbing article”. That will be a day that I know I would’ve made Shelly proud because I know I would’ve used everything that she has tried to instil in me .That is what makes Shelly Seid my inspiration.