Profile overview

This blog was updated on October 10, 2009.

Freelance writer and German translator, Durga Walker has plied her trade on both sides of the Atlantic, working for agencies and direct customers in Europe and the United States.

With experience in both the business and creative fields, Durga's happy to do the writing you don't want to do. Whether you're looking for company newsletters, reports, promotional material, or articles to market your services on the Internet, you're in the right place.


Sample articles can be seen below in separate blog posts.

Writing credentials

Durga's own Internet articles can be found on such sites as The Creativity Portal and The Artrepreneur, and she's been published in popular art trade journal ArtCalendar. She is the author of an e-book entitled The Day Job Survival (and Escape) Kit, is completing her first novel (for the young adult market), and starting on her second (for a general readership). Her personal blog on the trials and tribulations of being an artist with a day job can be found at The Artful Day-Jobber.

Below in separate blog posts are sample articles that were originally written for the Internet and edited for the purposes of this profile.

Translation credentials

Durga has worked as a freelance German translator and copyeditor for the last 13 years. She learned her craft over 15 years in Switzerland and works with agencies in Zurich, translating and editing for customers like UBS, LGT Lichtenstein Bank, ABB Universität Zürich, ETH Zürich, Swiss Reinsurance Company, and many more.


Specialties include promotional material, marketing and business reports, all nontechnical texts, and websites. She excels in polished brochures and advertising that must be print-ready, and in cases that require delicate linguistic handling.

Contact

Please e-mail with your initial inquiry. If necessary, phone calls can be set up by appointment.

Rates

Fees are paid via PayPal or bank wire. For new clients, one-third of the fee must be paid up front. For all clients, the balance is due upon approval of the copy by the client.

Translation:    $   3.00 / line (one line = 53 characters)

Copyediting:  $ 35.00 / 3 pages (one page = 25 lines)

Writing assignments begin at a minimum $ 50, depending on length and complexity.

Terms and conditions will be agreed by both parties before work begins. The more background and source material the client submits, the greater the reduction in research time and, consequently, the price.

Durga Walker has an M.A. in Communication Arts. She was an English teacher in Switzerland, a composition evaluator for McGraw-Hill CTB in Monterey, and has designed business English courses to meet qualifications of the Swiss Federal examination system. A creativity coach for several years, Durga is currently focusing on her own writing, both fiction and nonfiction, and handcrafts. 

Define Creativity -- I Dare You!

by Durga Walker

Are you making it impossible for yourself to be creative?

What comes to mind when you hear the word “creative”?

Dazzling? Fabulous? Breathtaking? Totally original? Completely outside the box?

Do you think of creativity as mysterious? Elusive? Unattainable? Easy for the lucky creative folks but impossible for you?

When was the last time you examined your ideas about creativity? How do you determine if something is creative or not? What triggers your muse, makes you want to paint or write, then dashes your hopes to the ground?

What whacky ideas about creativity are you harboring in your treasure chest of self-imposed limitations?

Think about what you’re thinking

Words are powerful things. The longer they hang around unexamined, the bigger the punch they pack. I’m afraid we’re all guilty of taking our words lightly. We routinely praise or condemn ourselves in our own eyes without giving a thought to what we actually mean.

Think about it. If you believe that “being creative” means to be absolutely, totally, completely original, are you likely to think that one of your own thoughts is creative? Of course not.

If exerting effort to create art automatically means you’re not creative (because, of course, truly creative folks mindlessly exude artistry from every pore), you’re not going to give your own work much credence.

If there’s an exclusive group with a monopoly on creativity, where does that leave you? In fact, if every creative act has to knock the whole world’s socks off, where does that leave any of us?

Here are four exercises for digging those moldy ideas out of your mind, giving them a good airing, and then obliterating them forever.

1.  Creativity Is…

Creativity is…what?

Sit down and write for as long as you like, the longer the better. Keep your pen moving. No censors allowed in this exercise. And no reading until you’re done.

When you think you’ve got it all down on paper, find a safe place and incinerate it. Bury the ashes or toss them in the wind. Get rid of them!! That definition is over and done with.

Now start thinking from your new clean slate about what creativity REALLY means to you.

Create a definition you can live with. Start fresh. You ARE creative!

2.  The Rules of Creativity

Carry some paper around with you and jot down every rule you catch yourself thinking about creativity.

For example, you may have a habit of doodling when you’re on the phone, then tossing the paper away, ashamed of your scribble. Stop and notice what you just thought. Was it something like, “Stick-figure garbage. Blah.”

Write it down: “Rule #34: Stick figures are not creative. Throw them away before anyone sees them.”

See how many rules you can come up with. Be ruthless with yourself. When you’ve got a fair number of your hidden rules on paper, you might want to do something similar as in the “Creativity Is…” exercise and burn the buggers. Those rules no longer apply.

Take a deep breath, exhale, and SMILE!

3.  Do I Like It?

Now instigate a new rule. “Creativity Rule #1: If I like it, it’s okay. No, better yet, it’s CREATIVE!”

Try this one on for size. For a week, make it your ONLY creativity rule. If you make a drawing or rearrange the furniture, the only thing you’re going to worry about is if YOU like it.

There’s plenty of time for learning principles of design and color. But if you’ve got a censor on your shoulder the size of the Matterhorn, this new rule should be your only concern.

Be bold: do some creative things just to see if you like them. Watch out—this rule is addictive.

4.  The Creative Me

Picture yourself on the most ideally creative day of your life and describe it.

Conjure up a picture of yourself being creative. What are you doing? What does it feel like? What sorts of things happen when you are creative?

Throw your mind into the future, at a time when you’ve fulfilled all your dreams and are at the pinnacle of your creative success, and describe it (this one may also help you dig out some crazy ideas about success while you’re at it).

Do NOT burn these. Keep them and read them often. Think about what you’ve said and how it makes you feel. Write many descriptions just like these on different days, because your dreams and ideas will tend to change as you grow. If, with time, you see that your description uncovers those old outdated ideas of creativity, rewrite it.

And well done, I say! You’re creating yourself as you go along. How creative of you!

How Creatively Can You Market Your Art?

by Durga Walker


No matter how creative your work is or how dear it is to your heart, if you're a working artist you've got a product to sell.

And who should be more suited to creating marketing strategies than creative people? Yet this is very often the hardest thing for artists to do.

The problem may lie in how we think about the market. What would happen if artists stopped thinking competitively and began marketing art in ways that are truly creative?

Unlike competitive marketing—which holds that there is a limited number of customers, a limited amount of money, and a limited source of supply—the idea of marketing creatively takes its cues from the creative process itself.

The whole world is your studio

We all practice the creative process every day, whether we realize it or not. It’s how we bring everything into our lives, from hot coffee to a symphony performance. We think about what we want, create a concept, interact with the world, and in the end we have a result. Some things are more complex than others, but the basic process is the same.

As artists, we know it well. It is the creative, not the competitive, mind at work. It doesn’t worry about how many other people are making hot coffee this morning. It cares only for the integrity of the process.

1. Fall in love with an idea. Think about what you want for your art, not what you think you can get. It doesn't matter what anyone else is doing. They are not you. Do not limit your future with false ideas about what the market can provide. Create a vision you can fall in love with, then fall in love with it. It's your very own—make it a good one.

2. Fix this vision in your mind. Just as you become obsessed with an art project, become obsessed with your idea for marketing your work. Clarifying your goal is important; you cannot achieve it until it is clear. Formulate your marketing vision and work toward it with the same intensity you put into your art.

3. Act on your idea with purpose and faith. Know that the moment you conceive your idea, it is being fulfilled. Accept this as fact and don't let stories of failure or defeat affect your intent; they have nothing to do with you. Competitive marketing habits can weasel in and chip away at your resolve. Use your will—the same will that creates your art—to stay on track.

4. Be grateful. All the time, every day. Cultivating gratitude elevates you above the competitive mind. It gives you greater vision and generosity. It keeps you thinking the positive thoughts necessary to attract positive things. It brings you into harmony with your goal, and with the infinite source of all good. It is one of the most powerful forces at your command.

Some more things to keep in your creative mind

·      Think organically. As a smart seller, you must take good account of the market, knowing what tends to sell and what doesn’t, to whom and for how much. As you do this, however, don’t lose sight of the organic value of your own work and what it contributes to the marketplace. Balancing both sides will help you build a base from which to market your unique product, and it may open up surprising new avenues of artistic growth.

·      Think about what you can give. We tend to think about art as a vehicle for self-expression. But it’s worth asking yourself how you can best use your good work to give customers something of benefit to them as well. This approach encourages a positive upward spiral that nurtures generosity and gratitude, and you may find yourself creating new market niches.

·      Think win-win. You cannot ever lose anything that is rightfully yours. Imagine situations that benefit all sides. Win-win does exist. Enormously creative solutions can come from working expansively under challenging circumstances. Be generous in your dealings with the people in your supply chain.

·      Always think like the creative person you are. Use your imagination. Visualize. Apply your skill. Picture the whole world as your studio. Remember that before you are a manipulator of your artistic medium, you are a manipulator of thought and energy.

In the end, no one can design your strategy for you. Make sure you give your work the very best marketing plan your creative heart can devise!