August 20, 2008

Going Green By Nadia Ali
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The color green used to mean only one thing and that was jealousy, either as the green-eyed monster or green with envy. Today, however, green has a whole new positive meaning. Green now describes anything that is environmentally friendly. It is a realm that took off a long time ago and left me standing at the airport in my niche of travel writing.

The writer's ezines I looked through reflected the demand for green writers with nearly every publication doing its bit to support the environment. I came across an ad for a green food and drink feature. I browsed through the archives of the magazine revealing that it had appeal to me, and a field I would not mind researching.

So, I pitched a feature about organic chocolate that answered all the vitals of how, what, where, when and why. The editor responded with, "send it on spec.". I hit a road bump - those two dreaded words: "on spec". Was I really going to write a feature article and do all of that research "on spec?" I decided yes! The topic interested me and I was sure that I could sell organic chocolate.

Taa-daa! There it was the finished article signed, sealed and delivered to the editor and within days he said, "We'd like to publish your feature in the next edition". I was enthralled! My first "green" feature was a hit!

I know this sounds uncanny, but it gave me a desire to go out and write more green articles. It made me want to be part of the green movement to use my writing to get others to be more earth-friendly, to save the environment, to save the world! Okay, maybe not save the world but to contribute to a worthwhile cause by making readers more aware and, of course, myself about going green.

Nadia Ali is a freelance writer whose niche is primarily in travel writing and has recently experienced the unexpected fulfillment of writing "green." Her work has been published by WritersWeekly, Chicken Soup, WAHM Magazine, Travel Channel and Wcities.