Michelle Tan: Living Her Best Narrative
Michelle Tan started writing when Titanic was released and JK Rowling published Harry Potter (we’ll leave our readers to work out the math). Since then, she has been writing for magazines, television, digital platforms, social media, national magazines, and corporate and government projects.
The Story that Started Everything
Like Rowling, she didn’t quite start out with writing as a career in mind.
“Winning third place in the Singapore Press Holdings-National Arts Council Golden Point Short Story Competition made it easier to tell my parents that I was passing over my first-class honours degree in Psychology and the courage to then take that first step towards professional writing.” she recalls.
Along the way, she realised that scriptwriting is not just about writing skills. She reflects, “It’s actually about meeting people from all walks of life and being an engaged and empathic listener. Being a writer is about building trust and credibility.”
For Michelle, her most memorable project was Turning Point, a docu-drama-reality programme. Since this show was based on real life stories of offenders who have turned their lives around, she had the unforgettable experience of filming at Changi Prison.
Another momentous experience was being interviewed by BBC Radio in the United Kingdom; she had compiled a book of funny parenting stories that was picked up by a publisher. According to her profile description on her publisher’s site, We Need to Talk About the Conditions of My Imprisonment ...and other funny parenting stories is a funny, quirky and original collection of short stories revolving around the less-than-favourable aspects of parenting.
One for posterity: Michelle had the memorable experience of being interviewed by BBC Radio for her book
Love What You Do
With the high points of her projects come challenges in the form of multiple deadlines, impossible tasks and physical limitations. However, Michelle is a firm believer in embracing the growth mindset and flipping perspectives to see what she can achieve. In fact, one thing that stood out was how she did not regard what she does for a living as ‘work’.
“When you love what you do, you’re not working, you’re living. And I’m living my best life, currently meeting potential clients and helping them craft their narratives in executing their strategic visions. A recent project I was involved in was a study which was published under a grant programme. “
Reflecting on her career, Michelle says that the most valuable skill she has learned is that of transforming change management strategies into innovative and creative communication and content plans. “If you have a deep understanding of corporate mechanisms, then you will realise how easily change management plans can be successfully implemented by crafting corporate narratives in a fun and innovative way.”
Based in Western Australia, Michelle has been working on a mixture of local and international projects. If you have yet to work out when Michelle embarked on her first chapter of scripting, perhaps you can make an attempt at guessing what she would like to try next. The clue: It is a social media platform with an onomatopoeic name and she says she’ll probably have to learn to dance.
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