Laura Greaves has more than 20 years’ experience as a writer globally, across newspapers, magazines and books, however it is not the accolades and awards that defines her success.
“For me, the fact that this (writing) is my career is really the pinnacle of success…it’s something I can’t quite believe to be honest”, Laura said.
“I’ve wanted to be a writer, literally, my whole life. I’ve been writing stories, poems, scribbling plays since I was 4 or 5 years old. Writing is not just what I do, it truly is who I am.”
The internal drive, coupled with a humble perspective, was ingrained in Laura from a young age growing up in Adelaide and largely due to the unwavering support she received from her parents. Nonetheless, there were challenging times throughout Laura’s years at high school – a phase that saw her as the victim of relentless schoolyard bullying.
“The high school years were formative. It definitely shaped who I am as a person and the way I look at the world,” Laura said.
“There is a degree of resentment there, the fact that I didn’t get to have an entirely carefree, fun and free-wheeling adolescence. I certainly think that drove me to an extent and it motivated me even more to really succeed in my career and always go after things I wanted.”
Developing a steely determination and resilience, Laura was able to overcome the challenging years, going on to secure a cadetship as a 17-year-old at The Advertiser. Cutting her teeth in the world of journalism from a young age was important for Laura, as she continued to chase her passion.
“I did a cadetship straight out of high school…thrust straight into this world of much older, hard-boiled journos. It was amazing…I’m so grateful for it,” Laura said.
“The buzz of working on a daily newspaper was so thrilling. It was awesome and I loved every minute of it.”
Laura was forced into freelance writing in 2009, after her role as Acting Editor of a magazine ended. Despite the adversity, Laura revelled in the freedom and stimulation that the new opportunity provided.
“I really threw myself into it…I took every paid gig I was offered. I was extremely busy and wrote for pretty much every magazine, I did shifts on newspapers, I did one-off editorial projects, I did copywriting. It was really interesting, creatively speaking, because I was writing about so many different things,” Laura said.
More recently, Laura has moved into writing novels and non-fiction pieces and is soon to publish her tenth book. The success, through years of toil and hard work, continues to surprise Laura and remind her of the journey she has taken.
“There are certainly moments where I think ‘Wow’, I never honestly believed this would actually be my full-time job’ and here I am…it’s crazy.”
Find out more in the latest episode of the Passion & Perspective Podcast, hosted by Jonathan Robinson-Lees.
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