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Topic: Organizing pitch ideas -seeking alt. to messy pile
| Author | Message |
| Thabit | Posted – 4/24/2008 9:33:41 AM | show profile I am periodically inundated with piles of magazines, clippings, emailed press releases, saved web pages, crawling my way out to pitch usually the last thing I've come across... Any suggestions? A freelancer friend of mine gets through what he can every day, then chucks what he doesn't. This seems a little drastic. Then again, I let stuff sit around for months and end up chucking it all... tx in advance! |
| Thabit | Posted – 4/28/2008 9:50:39 AM | show profile anyone home? |
| HisGirlFriday | Posted – 4/28/2008 10:24:49 AM | show profile The messy pile works for me. I keep them all in a file folder marked "story ideas," (paper, yes, I'm a luddite) and then go thru them when I have some down time. I find that if its something I see online I'll print it out. Bad for the environment, yes, but good for my addled brain. A daily deadline to go thru them seems a bit much - I have ideas in there that have sat for months before they ended up as stories. No reason to chuck it - unless it is an idea with some type of timely deadline. |
| caitlinkelly | Posted – 4/28/2008 12:20:16 PM | show profile Pick a day each week, the same one, and make it the day you pitch 5 or 10 or 15 ideas...whatever. That will force you to confront your piles, organize them and act on them. Since it can take weeks or months for some editors to respond, you'll have a steady stream of queries heading out the door. I try to pitch ideas as soon as I have them or see them. |
| Thabit | Posted – 4/29/2008 2:38:02 AM | show profile Thanks to both I guess it's just a question of figuring out a personal system HGF, I like the idea of having one dedicated day a week. I may spend only an hour or so researching & fleshing out a pitch, so 10-15 is out of my range. Something to work up to maybe? |
| Thabit | Posted – 4/29/2008 2:40:25 AM | show profile got caitlin & HGF's replies mixed up...sorry I meant well... |
| pamelabeth | Posted – 4/29/2008 4:01:59 PM | show profile i'm afraid i am the princess of the messy papers, so not much help! i have a bin that is for "work-related papers" (non-financial), and i've got everything in there, from interesting mags i've just discovered to story ideas to clips. i have realized, from this thread, that i can at least sort out the papers and have a few bins! i agree that papers don't need to be thrown out so fast, but do try to stay on top of them. caitlin's idea of designated days is a good one. in terms of physical organization, files (and even a small filing cabinet) and little storage bins are your friends. |
