Pop Quiz: Neal Pollack
Today’s interviewee is a graduate of Northwestern University’s school of journalism. After a stint at the Chicago Reader, he has gone on to publish four books (with more in the works) and has contributed to publications such as Vanity Fair, Nerve and Readymade. Formerly known as McSweeney’s staple and self proclaimed “greatest living author,” he has traded a promotional persona for a stronger work ethic and dedication to writing.
1. You have had recurring columns in Nerve.com and Vanity Fair. Do you have any advice for writers who think they are cut out for column material?
I always wanted to write a column, because having a column means you have a NAME. But I found that I didn’t really have anything to say before I was 30, which, appropriately enough, is when my column assignments started to arrive. So my advice is: Be patient. Get yourself some seasoning and experience, in writing, reporting, and living, and then maybe you’ll actually have a column’s worth of things to offer. Occasionally a 20-something latches onto the zeitgeist and gets hot for a year or two, but those kind of columns usually burn out quickly. I’m looking at you, Joel Stein.
2. You have a family, write freelance, write books (fiction and non), edit anthologies and blog. Do you have a particular writing schedule?
The family is the key component. When you have a kid, it’s like being permanently on call at the fire station. So I’m prepared to drop everything at any moment for cleanup or paramedic duties. I write when I can, in the mornings, afternoons, evenings, and late into the night. But never really before nine.
3. I spoke with Matt Tobey, a writer who says that he has gotten some freelance gigs after guest writing on your blog. Do you have insight for writers who are looking to turn free online writing into paying gigs?
I’m not exactly one of the best-read online writers, but I guess I’m read enough for Matt to get gigs off of his contributions to my site. So my advice is: Latch on to someone better known than you. They can link to you at first, and then when they inevitably go on vacation, you can fill in. That’s how Internet back-scratching works, and it’s not necessarily a meritocracy (though in Matt’s case, it was). There are lots of talented and funny people blogging away out there who have no connections at all. Network, people.
4. Based on your experiences touring for your books and music, what have you learned about promoting your own work?
That it’s best to let the work speak for itself. You should certainly have an overall marketing plan, or, at the very least, know what your writing is about and be prepared to talk intelligently. But I made the mistake sometimes of making the promotion more important than the work. That may have some short-term success, but it’s not a long-term strategy for success. I know I talk like a businessperson, but unlike most writers, I’m willing to admit that this is a business as well as an art.
5. What’s been the most helpful information you’ve learned when it comes to being a better writer?
About a year ago, a smart sophisticate told me to lay off the other crap, the performing, the self-promotion, and whatnot, and told me just to write. It was the best advice I’ve ever received from anyone, and served as a perfect corrective for a bad course.
(photo credit: Niles Fuller)
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