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Topic: The Very Beginning
| Author | Message |
| Derrick Stuart | Posted – 10/17/2006 11:32:47 PM | show profile I've made up my mind that this is what I want to do with my life. So, now what? I haven't written anything for anything yet and I'm not sure where to start considering my lack of experience and formal training, age, etc. So say you were 19, a bit of a crazy autodidact with an irrational tendency towards going off on aimless travel, no previous journalistic experience but more than willing to learn, the set goal of being a freelance writer, and nothing to lose, really.. what would you do? Any sincere advice would be warmly appreciated. |
| Lotus665 | Posted – 10/19/2006 2:39:49 PM | show profile Are you in college? You'll definitely need a bachelor's degree. Meantime, I suggest: -Start a blog. Make sure it's good. Develop a following. -Freelance for small local papers and get some clips. They are often in need and pay horribly and are grateful for a decent wordsmith willing to cover the local school board meeting. -Take an adult ed class or two at a local university, community college, etc. Where do you live, by the way? |
| natalie3457 | Posted – 10/19/2006 4:05:11 PM | show profile Write and get your work published Since you say that you haven't written anything. You should definitely start and if want to be publsihed you will need experience in any publication, including websites. Contact, as the previous poster said, small community papers, even local, regional magazines. Most likely you will start off as an intern, but that will put your foot in the door. Also if you have story ideas, pitch them to the appropriate publication. You will need to get active, and write and intern for any publication that is willing to accept you and your work. Good luck! |
| Derrick Stuart | Posted – 10/19/2006 10:34:22 PM | show profile | email poster Thanks Are you in college? You'll definitely need a bachelor's degree. Not at the moment. I have a year of junior year college down, but I'm out indefinitely to travel around a bit and amass some money. I've been a bit of an autodidact my entire life; most areas in which I have some sort of skill are those in which I'm self-taught. I hope to get back into school eventually. In the meantime, though, I was hoping to supplement the gap with any sort of valid experience I can. -Start a blog. Make sure it's good. Develop a following. Does the content matter? Where could I get a blog and where would I get a following? -Freelance for small local papers and get some clips. They are often in need and pay horribly and are grateful for a decent wordsmith willing to cover the local school board meeting. How would I go about doing that? Would simply telling the truth (by calling or e-mailing somewhere: "Hi, I'm inexperienced but I can put a narrative together and I'm willing to do anything you tell me to!") work out at all? Because I'm perfectly willing to do that! Where do you live, by the way? Richmond, Virginia. Hopefully for not any longer than six months. |
| Derrick Stuart | Posted – 10/19/2006 11:08:17 PM | show profile Thanks to you too. You should definitely start and if want to be publsihed you will need experience in any publication, including websites. Contact, as the previous poster said, small community papers, even local, regional magazines. How do I start off from the very beginning? Do I just call them up and explain my situation? Is there some sort of formal protocol for this sort of thing? Or is the writer's career more or less a game of Russian roulette, see whose attention you can get and what might work and what doesn't, etc? Also if you have story ideas, pitch them to the appropriate publication. I imagine there must at least be some kind of formal process for this as well? Do you guys have any recommendations for some reading material or anything that might help me out? |
| A~ | Posted – 10/20/2006 7:36:38 AM | show profile Derrick: I think you need to go to university. Enroll in a J-school. This is beneficial in two specific ways: #1.) It will give you a foundation in journalism techniques. It takes more than being an autodidact to submit ideal news articles in the expected styles (hard news, soft news, features, profiles, etc.) to a daily newspaper. Newspaper editors will know right away whether you are familiar with proper journalism style and aren't likely to respond to cold submissions from somebody who isn't using inverted pyramids, AP style or nut grafs. They will especially be adverse to the presence of common mistakes in style, grammar or punctuation, the kind of things an aspiring journalist works out during formal education, training and internships. #2.) J-schools offer opportunities to network and practice. Most of them (as far as I know) have newspapers where you get hand-on experience shaping your skills. They also sponsor field trips to journalism conventions, and they offer the best way to obtain internships at reputable publications. Good luck, |
| depietrowriter | Posted – 10/20/2006 5:53:01 PM | show profile Derrick. First I want to say good for you for the aimless traveling. Thats cool and a great time to do it is at you age before kids and such. A B.S. degree will come in handy. I do feel since you said freelance writing it does not have to be a degree in journalism. Sure thats great, but if your not looking at being a news reporter a degree in something else is fine too. My degree is in something other then journalism. Advice would be 1. blogging is a good idea, maybe about your travels. 2. Take a workshop or two on how freelance writing works, take a seminar on writing query letters. 3. Get a few books on the above as well, try going to some freelance writers web sites for more info. 4. Once you get a good feel for how the query process works start sending letters out. 5. Its a good idea to start smaller nationals and regional magazines and newspapers. 6.You don't have to wait until your in college or have a degree to start sending out queries. If you think about it you most likely have ideas now. After all you have nothing to lose by trying. Lastly there is a ton of rejection in the beginning. Even now after 8 years there still is.( I hope that doesn't mean I just suck.) So if its what you want to do, go for it, hang in there and good luck. |
