...This is a reminder not to overlook them. Let's recognise the gifts of nature we have before they're on the brink of disappearing.

Also, do wait for the page to finish loading before scrolling through: https://betweenthelines.my/sabahs-custodians-of-the-mangrove-forests-between-land-and-sea/

& Don't forget to subscribe to BTL if you're interested in Malaysian news. The team publishes curated summaries as well as original reportage "specials" like my story. Sign up here: https://betweenthelines.my

#edwrites #journalism #mangroves #Sabah #Malaysia

& Finally, an important reminder from Abdul Rashid Ismail, a former president of HAKAM, from my 2019 story—that people who commit crimes and murder should absolutely be punished, but not by death. Just in case we get it wrong (as statistically, we must), there is at least something to reverse.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12vD1w9CQ4hPqufhW-wZFTEKKdeGPvbhP/view?usp=sharing

#edwrites #deathpenalty @Malaysia

And here's a more personal take on, I guess, the mind that wrote these stories and that wanted to write these stories—for my newsletter #MovableWorlds. It's about, as someone put it, "the certainty of uncertainty".

https://movableworlds.co/p/perilsofcertainty

#edwrites #deathpenalty

Many more years back, I visited a prisoner on death row in #Malaysia—though here we call it bilik akhir, "the last room"—and wrote about it for Esquire Malaysia.

I always cringe reading what I've written in hindsight, especially so many years ago (there are so many ways this could have been better), but the piece does offer a glimpse into how life stops behind bars for those waiting to be hanged and the dangerous obscurity of our legal process: https://www.emilyding.me/in-the-last-room

#edwrites #deathpenalty

Also, to destress: I am watching The Last of Us and The White Lotus—in tandem 😅

#edwrites #ednotwriting #potating

Wrapped up a piece that felt inexplicably difficult. I've always had an obsessive perfectionist streak, which seems to have worsened in recent years. Also, so many little things can shape the editor-writer process, not all of them one’s own doing. Then pile on a sustained lack of sleep since end of Feb, two dogs demanding round-the-clock care (one puppy, one badly injured), some unhealthy living habits, and it's feeling a lot like burnout. One more to go before a much needed break...

#edwrites

...but making sure I give my pets the proper care they need when they need it most is also not optional 😐 It has been a month of averaging 4-5 hours of sleep a night, and I guess that might continue for a while more.

#edwrites

Add to that, now, a(nother) badly injured big dog—we had to rush her to the vet's at midnight yesterday when we found her bleeding from a paw and hind legs after she escaped the house—and I have never been so tired or anxious, and it's about to get more difficult caring for both of them. My deadlines are also still due. I hate offering up reasons for late work because they always sound like excuses...

#edwrites

It has really been an energy-sapping month. Balancing being the full-time carer of a new rambunctious puppy (which entails attempts to potty train her and having to wake up multiple times in the night) and trying to fulfil deadlines due has been really, really challenging...

#edwrites

#Sanmao, real name Chen Ping, was a Taiwanese travel writer who apparently inspired generations of young women in the Chinese-speaking world. She was born some eighty years ago today, in 1943, and on this occasion, for your Sunday reading, I’m republishing here an essay I wrote a couple of years back for Mekong Review of her collection, Stories of the #Sahara—translated into English for the first time in 2019 by Mike Fu.

Read it here: https://movableworlds.co/p/rememberingsanmao

#MovableWorlds #edwrites

Friday night and I'm at my desk working/procrastinating because it is the only quiet time I can get away from the puppy that recently joined our household (she's sleeping soundly right now). Also, I don't think I've been "out" out in two weeks. I have woefully underestimated how tiring it would be to manage deadlines and potty training at the same time 😩 Super appreciative of the editors who have understood this predicament!

#edwrites #writinglife #writingcommunity #dogsofmastodon

Just about wrapped up two deadlines I thought would never end, and I have two more to go before I hit pause. And then I am really, really, really looking forward do get stuck into some more personal, less straight-up journalism projects 🤞

#edwrites #journalism #writing #journalistsofmastodon #writersofmastodon #writingcommunity #writinglife

Also, generous editors who give you the space and time to explore your thoughts and your story to its logical conclusion instead of expecting neat answers upfront are a rare breed. When you find one, hold on tight.

#edwrites #journalism #longform #journalistsofmastodon #WritersOfMastodon #writingcommunity

So, I heard back from the editor, who said some effusively nice things ❤️ As a freelancer who works without structured feedback, such periodic reminders that I do not, in fact, suck at what I do (though it can sometimes feel like it when I am knee-deep in the mess of writing, trying to figure out what I want to say with a story) are a lifeline.

#edwrites #journalism #longform #journalistsofmastodon #WritersOfMastodon #writingcommunity

Also, generous editors who give you the space and time to explore your thoughts and your story to its logical conclusion instead of expecting the answers upfront are a rare breed. When you find one, hold on tight.

#edwrites #journalism #longform #journalistsofmastodon #WritersOfMastodon #writingcommunity

So, I heard back from the editor, who said some effusively nice things ❤️ As a freelancer who works without structured feedback, such periodic reminders that I do not, after all, suck at what I do—though it can sometimes feel like it when I am still knee-deep in the mess of writing, trying to figure out what I want to say with a story—are a lifeline.

#edwrites #journalism #longform #journalistsofmastodon #WritersOfMastodon #writingcommunity

OK, managed to cut it down some & sent to editor for feedback. There will be some editorial back and forth but—on to the next deadline! Can't wait to finish this pile-up so I can get stuck in on some personal projects I've wanted to get to for so long! Yet, as my partner reminds me, as I get close to clearing this slate, I will probably pitch for more deadlines & the cycle (+ homework anxiety) never ends 😆

#edwrites #journalism #journalistsofmastodon #WritersOfMastodon #writingcommunity

Wrote a first draft of 7.5k words for a reported piece meant to be 5k words and now have to cut, cut, cut 😩 This tends to happen for subjects I'm wading into very deeply for the first time where I'm learning a lot that I can hopefully apply to future pieces. But still. I have never learnt to write to the limit from the get-go! Luckily, this is for online...

#edwrites #journalism #reporting #longform #journalistsofmastodon #WritersOfMastodon #writingcommunity

Reporting a story, I usually prefer to read as much as I can before I begin talking to experts, wrestling hard with the contradictions that appear… Here to remind myself that it’s not a bad idea to speak to the experts a little earlier than I usually do, because they so effortlessly explain the contradiction in less the time it took you to read all the papers 😆

#edwrites #journalism #writingcommunity #writersofmastodon

Writing a story, I often start with fragments, until I land on one that I think could be the opening—and then I have to nail those first few paragraphs before I can write the rest of the piece with any fluidity. Often, if I'm having trouble with structure, I'll know it's because I don't have the right beginning.

What's your #writing #process like? I'm working on #nonfiction, but I think it's quite similar for me too with fiction.

#edwrites #journalism #writingcommunity #writersofmastodon