Celebrating World Book Day with Griffith College Student and Author, Sara Donohue
Celebrating World Book Day with Griffith College Student and Author, Sara Donohue
About the Author: Blended Learning Student, Sara Donohue
My name is Sara, I’m a second year BA (Hons) Business Studies blended learning student at Griffith College Dublin. I balance study with writing, and in November 2018 published a novel called The Tunnel. I began writing in 2016 and had the first draft written within a year. Throughout the following year I re-read and made improvements to the book, as well as getting feedback from others.
Self-Publishing Route
I looked into submitting to agents and publishing houses but ultimately decided that self-publishing was the route I wanted to take. This was for two main reasons. Firstly, I had a very clear idea of exactly how I wanted the book to look – both the text layout inside and the scene for the cover. Secondly, I am lucky enough to be surrounded by people involved in different areas of writing that were willing to help me get the book to a level where it was ready to be published.
Before Griffith
I’d been writing the year before starting my Degree in Griffith and continued perfecting the text on and off during my first year of college. I finalised it over the summer and got the book ready for print. The final pdf of text and cover artwork was sent to the printers in mid-November and the book was printed in 10 days. The launch was the very end of November, just in time for Christmas!
"Studying and writing complement each other. Whereas college is determined by module material – understanding, learning and retaining information, writing is entirely self-directed and allows complete creative freedom."
Lifelong Learning and Self Improvement
By deciding to self-publish I took on all aspects of the publishing process – from layout of the text, to getting the book physically printed, having the book on shelves in shops and online,promoting it and managing social media. The business knowledge learned through the course so far has helped me immensely, as publishing a book is a mini business venture. Accounting modules helped with keeping on top of costs, while other areas gave me an insight into the operational side of the shops I am selling through.
A Word to Prospective Students
To me studying through blended learning is similar to writing. For the most part it’s just me and my laptop, there’s no one reminding me to get the work done or of impending deadlines. I think self-motivation, determination, focus and good time management are important when considering studying through blended learning. With assignment deadlines I like to set myself a goal of submitting the assignment a few days before it’s due. This gives me breathing space so that even if the assignment takes longer than I originally expected it to I don’t miss the submission deadline.
"I love combining business and creativity.Writing and bringing The Tunnel to print has been a great experience."
To the Future
The business world is highly competitive and having a degree will hopefully help with future employment. For me the plan is to graduate from Griffith in 2020, gain work experience with the view to having my own start-up in the next 5-10 years. I will also hopefully continue to write in my spare time, although I will have to wait and see whether I end up writing another novel.
