ABOUT ME

Image: Hannah van Alen

JOIN MY WRITING ADVENTURE:

AN AVID READER AND WANNA-BE AVIATOR

If you want to become a good writer, you have to become an avid reader first. This piece of advice wasn’t for me – I already had been a bookworm long before I ever thought of making writing my profession. Adventure stories of all kinds were my lifeblood; I read all the great classics from Stevenson’s Treasure Island to Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth not only once but multiple times in German, later in their original versions.

My first secret passion as a kid, however, was aviation. Ever since I stepped on board my first flight when I was five years old, I dreamt of sitting at the controls of an airplane myself one day to discover the world from above. But a corneal curvature with strong myopia quickly put that dream to an end and left me a bit clueless wondering what to do with my life.

As chance or fate would have it, one day I stumbled upon a paperback edition of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s second novel Night Flight – and devoured it in just two hours. In the book, as in many other of his writings, the author interlaces his own experience as a pilot in the early days of aviation in a fictional story. As I immediately fell in love with Saint-Exupéry’s writing style, I went on to discover his other books, among them Wind, Sun and Stars, Flight to Arras, and his most popular work The Little Prince.

FROM TRANSLATION TO PR & MARKETING

Meanwhile, I had already started diving deeper into the world of writing and then saw myself traveling the world as a foreign correspondent (or sports reporter, that wasn’t quite clear at that time) for important newspapers while writing on my first fiction novel which would, of course, become an international bestseller.

As you may imagine, my family wasn’t impressed at all and told me to learn something useful that would secure me a living in the long run. As learning languages was my third passion, I decided to take on translation studies with a focus on business and legal texts. After graduation and a first practical glimpse into the world of translation, however, I wasn’t sure if that was what I really wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Around a year later I started working in a cinema technology company – and was hooked. Having started as an executive assistant, I took over marketing and PR management when the then family-run business was about to transform into a corporation. Later, I re-joined my former boss and worked for his new start-up consulting business.

SIDE HUSTLER BECOMING FREELANCE JOURNALIST
AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

In parallel, I started building up a side hustle as a freelance writer and translator for companies in several fields and completed an advanced training certificate course in Public Relations Management as well as several writing workshops for both fictional and non-fictional writing (yes, writing was slowly taking over again).

It was one of those side gigs that secured me a position as an online news editor in a journal for cinema and broadcast technology. I was in charge of writing and editing newspieces for the weekly newsletter and quickly took over additional tasks like translations of technical articles and writing several pieces for the journal myself.

I loved that my work allowed me to dive deeper into the world of media and entertainment technology. So when the then editor-in-chief told me that he had decided to retire, I hadn’t to think twice if I wanted to follow his footsteps. I went on from deputy editor to editor-in-chief in just a few months and, for the following years, was in charge of producing ten print issues per year, a weekly newsletter and several special editions for industry tradeshows. Being a full-time freelancer, I also continued working on writing and translation projects in other industries during that time.

FROM FREELANCER TO CREATIVE ENTREPRENEUR

After 6 years as a freelance journalist, I felt the urge to step away from my freelance activities to dive into real business instead. Consequently, I stepped down from my position as editor-in-chief and launched a new creative business combining all the different areas of expertise I had worked in so far. A BUENGER NETWORK, my content service hub, offers a full range of editorial and translation services in 6 languages. Moreover, I dove into the world of online publishing, and, together with creative partners, into multimedia production.

If I’m not busy creating myself, you can find me exploring something new:

• …a book
• …a movie or TV show
• …a stage production (ballet, opera, theatre, concert)
• …a football match (the real thing, also called soccer)
• …a theme park ride
• …a country/city/hotspot or
• …a perfume or dish.

AND YOU?

Congratulations, you made it to the end of this personal story. Now, how can I help you to create your own?