That's all from me for now

Writing a weekly column for the Jersey Evening Post, for the last 6 months, has been one of the highlights of my recent past and I have received so much positive feedback from people who have taken the time to read them. These same people have often asked me two related questions. Firstly, ‘How do you find time?’ And secondly, ‘Don’t you run out of things to write about?’

To address the first point, I can usually punch out my 450 odd words in about ten to 15 minutes, primarily because I do not usually physically type my piece but instead use the ‘dictate’ function in Microsoft Word. This allows me to lay my thoughts speedily and accurately into a readable format. I then use the ‘read aloud’ function to proofread the piece back to iron out any typographical or grammatical errors. Finally, I use the ‘editor’ function to improve aspects of my work such as clarity and punctuation.

My modus operandi is to submit way before any deadline looms, something which the editorial team appreciate, I am sure. I also stack-up written pieces for up to three weeks in advance, to allow me to revisit them and make minor changes, if required.

Moving on to the second point, I usually respond by letting people know that if you had to write 450 words on what you did, or thought about last week, it would be extremely easy to do and in fact 3,000 or 4,000 words might be needed.

Under this paper’s rules, anyone who is considering standing in June 2022 is not eligible to have their columns published after 31 January 2022, a policy which I wholeheartedly support. I will certainly miss this regular commitment and I would encourage anyone who has the inclination to write a weekly column to contact the editorial team to put yourself forward and have a go, if you use the digital tools that are at your disposal, it really is not hard at all.

My earlier columns were a little more clunky than my later offerings and I must thank the skilled sub-editing team at the JEP who make small edits to someone else’s work and, without changing the meaning, improve its readability and flow. Their ability ‘not use two words, when one word will do’ certainly helped me to improve my own writing style. For that alone, the weekly commitment has been well worth the effort.

Malcolm Ferey is the Chief Executive of Headway Jersey and a member of the Jersey Liberal Conservatives. All views expressed in this column are his own.