Dear Respondent to Writer;

Excellent perspective and truth. Perhaps I was drawn in by your
sarcastic illustration, or was it the mud wrestling???

Great advice, I hope "writer" now gets it.

- askeric



--- In WriteMovies@yahoogroups.com, "Zack" <Zack@...> wrote:
>
> From Salon.com:
>
> I'm a good writer. Everybody says so. So how come other people get
hired?
>
>
> April 10, 2008 | Dear Cary,
>
> The only thing I have ever wanted to do with my life was be a
writer. Even when I was a
> little kid, that's what I told people I wanted to be when I grew
up. Well ... here I am, very
> nearly a grown-up, and I'm still working shitty administrative
assistant jobs. Everyone I
> know says I'm a talented writer and I'll get a great job one day;
so then why do I know so
> many not-so-great writers who have great jobs?
>
> During college, I worked at my student newspaper, but I stuck to
the copy desk and
> column writing because I was scared to interview people. Now, I'm
willing to go interview
> people, but I can't get a job at a newspaper because I have no
clips to show them. People
> tell me to get an internship as a way to get my foot in the door,
but most internships are
> unpaid, and I can't afford to work for free. Often, I'll find a job
online that I think I'm
> capable of, but I can't apply because they ask for multiple work
samples and I have no
> reporting work to show them. Perhaps I could send them something
from my blog or from
> my graduate thesis, but I doubt that's what they're looking for.
>
> To make matters worse, a friend told me to apply for a specific job
that she felt sure I
> could get, and now the editor has dropped off the planet for the
past three weeks. It's just
> heart-wrenching when a job you thought had your name all over it
vanishes into thin air.
>
> The thing that makes this so difficult is that I know I can write.
I mean, really. I'm no
> Dostoevski, but I'm damned good, and I am absolutely 100 percent
certain that, given the
> chance, I could make any newspaper or magazine proud. Now that I
know it, how do I
> convince potential employers?
>
> Writer
>
> Dear Writer,
>
> There aren't enough writing jobs. There could be. It's not a
natural law. If the government
> supported all writers, then there could be enough writing jobs. All
you'd have to do is say,
> I am a writer, and the government would give you money for food and
rent and say, "Bring
> me writing every day."
>
> Then the government would have to figure out what to do with all
the surplus writing.
> Maybe it would hand out the writing for free off the backs of
trucks. But maybe no one
> would want all that surplus writing because it does not make a
sandwich.
>
>
> So then maybe the government would have to hire surplus readers who
would be given
> money for food and rent and would go to the Big Surplus Writing
Room where all the
> surplus writing was stacked on tables.
>
> It could work that way. Every writer would be employed and read.
I'm just saying.
>
> But in our system writing must go into publications that people buy
or that advertisers
> buy space in, or writers don't get money for food and rent.
>
> So writers have to compete.
>
> Competing is a whole separate thing from writing, but if you want
to write for a living you
> have to compete. Look at all the other writers. They want the same
thing.
>
> You are competing for the attention and high regard of the person
who decides.
>
> So you say to the person who decides, Oh, yeah, that would be
really funny, when they
> say, Wouldn't this be funny? Or if they say, Here's an idea, you
say, I like that idea. That
> idea is a good idea. I would love to write about that idea.
>
> And then they say, Yeah? You want to write this?
>
> And you say, Absolutely.
>
> Not everyone likes the person who says, That would be really funny.
Some people like the
> writer who says, That sounds really dumb. They think that a writer
who says, That would
> be really dumb must have a mind of her own.
>
> But basically what they want is good stuff cheap from somebody who
smells good. If you
> smell good and can give them good stuff cheap they might not like
you but they like to get
> good stuff cheap. Not free. They'll think it's worthless. But
cheap. Give them good stuff
> cheap. Smell good. They'll like that.
>
> The other way is to do the work. If there is an interview do the
interview. If the interview
> subject asks, What publication? say you're freelance. Don't say the
name of the
> publication. The subject will call people at the publication and
they will say they've never
> heard of you. Then it will seem like you made something up. They
don't like that. They can
> be touchy. They think they're important. So be honest: You are
freelance.
>
> If you want the interview, be fun. That helps. Famous people who
are bored like it if you
> are fun. They wanted life to be fun so they did fun things and got
famous. So if you are
> fun they may agree to be interviewed by you even if the interview
is not for sure going to
> get published. They might want to "give you a break." Some people
are like that.
>
> That way you get clips.
>
> Also: Say yes fast. If the person who hires writers comes out of
his cave and says, Who has
> 500 words on my mother's new play? do not pause to think, What is
his mother's name,
> and what is her play, and is it that play that is not very good?
Raise your hand and say, I,
> sir, have 750 words on your mother's new play, and might I add,
sir: Brava!
>
> Then they let you in the gate and the rest of the writers have to
stand outside pretending
> to buy one another drinks. Once inside, you say, I completely lied,
and then they beat you,
> but they are not very strong. They are editors.
>
> That's one way. I'm just saying, you'll look around and you'll see
writers saying completely
> untrue things to get work. And you'll think, those things are
completely untrue, why are
> they saying them? They are saying them to get work. You say that
certain books were
> flawed but interesting. What was interesting about them was their
flaws.
>
> You don't have to do this. There are other ways. You can be really,
really good. You can
> find a niche. You can slog it out. But just don't be on your high
horse. It's not like they're
> handing out rewards for talent. It's more like mud wrestling.
>