Profwriting

Mark Spence is a graduate of the MA Professional Writing at University College Falmouth and Deputy Features Editor for Nuts magazine. He tells us how completing the MA changed his life and kickstarted his career.

‘My role involves sourcing true-life stories/features, commissioning journalists, organising interviews with celebs/sports stars, photoshoots, cover features, online content, newsletters. On top of what I do on the editorial side of the magazine, I’m also involved in generating ideas for everything else associated with the brand, e.g. the Nuts football awards which are due to be broadcast on MTV this year. Woo hoo!

In all honesty I don’t think I’d be doing what I’m doing now without the help and encouragement of the course tutors. I’d probably still be sitting in a bedsit somewhere in the South West beating my head against a wall wondering how to get a break. The course made me realise that opportunities were not going to just land in my lap and if I wanted to make something happen I’d need to get out and make it happen for myself. For example, while I was doing the course I pestered the Western Morning News and an interview I did with a band called Thirteen Senses made the cover – thanks to the course leader getting me the interview in the first place!

Also, through the contacts of one of the course tutors I managed to secure myself a work experience week at Front magazine, pestered the editor there to give me a chance, pitched a story, he loved it, worked at Front for a while after the course before aforementioned Editor moved to Nuts and a few months later headhunted me to come and work for them. I’ve been there ever since and I’ve never looked back. Since then I’ve covered stories in Vegas, LA, Moscow, Athens, New York and everywhere else in between. I get access to genuine A-List celebs on a weekly basis and the perks are incredible. However, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now without the extra push the Prof Writing course and the tutors gave me.

Confidence is such an important thing in this business and this is something else the course gave me. For example, only a couple of weeks ago a group from my old Secondary School in Belfast heard that I was working at Nuts, called me and I arranged for them to come over to the Nuts office to see me and the rest of the team at work. I arranged for the Deputy Editor and myself to give them a talk and their teachers loved it so much it’s going to be an annual thing with their A-level students. The thought of doing something like that used to horrify me, but now I love it.’