How a Retired Teacher from Nelson Found Her Voice in Magazine Journalism
After twenty-eight years teaching English in Nelson classrooms, Janet Hart thought she knew what a writing life looked like. It looked like marking school essays. But everything changed over a September breakfast, when a piece she read in the Sunday Star Times about magazine journalism struck a spark in her. By dinner that same day, she’d decided to fling herself into the unknown.
It really was unknown too. Despite nearly three decades teaching English, Janet had never written anything beyond school reports. So she enrolled in the Freelance Journalism Course at NZ Writers’ College, working under the guidance of tutor Paul Smith, and let herself be a beginner again.
She still remembers the feeling of seeing her first published piece, a reflection on planning a trip to Paris, printed online with Kiwiboomers. She has described the nervous excitement of playing with words and ideas and then seeing them make it into print as one of the most rewarding parts of the whole experience.
That first thrill turned into more publishing successes. Janet went on to write for Canterbury’s Latitude magazine for five years, capturing the character of the people and places that make up the region, alongside further work in Nelson Mail, Wild Tomato, Wilderness and Memories magazines.
‘Magazine journalism has opened a whole
new world to explore. I love it.’
None of it came without knock-backs. Rejection is simply part of the job, as Janet’s husband warned her early on: she’d need to develop a thick skin. When an editor’s reply gently suggests a piece isn’t quite their cup of tea, Janet’s approach is to take a deep breath, dust off the ego and keep going. It’s an attitude any working writer will recognise, and one that clearly served her well.
Her advice for anyone thinking about following a similar path is refreshingly simple: read constantly, in every genre, and approach a writing course with an open mind.
‘If I hadn’t done the Magazine Journalism Course with the NZ Writers’ College, I’d now be out weeding the garden. … The course modules formed the theory and a fantastic framework. And my tutor guided me as I bumbled along its path. He fed me honest words of advice, ideas and attitudes to digest and pulled me back on the track when I shot off into the jungle. Magazine journalism has opened a whole new world to explore. I love it.’
From a Nelson classroom to bylines across some of the South Island’s best-loved regional titles, Janet’s story is proof that it’s never too late to become the kind of writer you always longed to be.
