The Renegade Writer Blog

Hi everyone. My friend Linda Formichelli keeps telling me that I ought to teach a writing class or at the very least post a note or two. So here I am, another “guest blogger” on my favorite site. I’ve been a writer and a magazine editor for about 20 years (yikes). Even though I’ve been at it so long, I learn something every time I check in to the Renegade Writer blog. And, as a lonely freelancer, I find it inspiring and helpful to know that you’re all “out there” and that somehow we’re in this together.

These days, I work as a freelance writer (80% of the time) and as a freelance editor (20%). I write for national business magazines and custom published business magazines, and I love what I do. Over the years, I’ve gone back and forth from one side of the editor’s desk to the other. In addition to some other editorial stints, I spent a few wonderful years as a senior editor at Inc. Magazine, back when the “bible of entrepreneurship” was still in Boston. I don’t know how unique it is to have worked on both sides of the desk, but I do think the experience gives me some insight into both editors and writers.

So for my first blog I have some news: even the best editors do not know what they’re doing every day of the week. The best writers – the ones who keep getting assignments again and again – are sometimes those who are willing to help an editor pull a rabbit out of a hat. To illustrate, consider the two assignments I received about three weeks ago. One was a great assignment, the other one pretty bad. What’s the difference? Clarity and questions.

One of my editors – a guy who’s incredibly organized and articulate — sent me an assignment to write about innovative companies. In only three paragraphs, he set out the background – the challenges that companies have coming up with new stuff. Then he ended the assignment letter with a single succinct question that my story was to answer. It was great! When I did my research and my interviews, I knew exactly where I was headed. There was very little futzing around, and what little I did was my fault. Once I’d done the research, I wrote the story rapid-fire. My first draft was my last, and I think it was mostly because my editor set it out so well.

At the same time, a new editor at a magazine I write for frequently asked me to write about a topic. It was pretty broad – a “can you do a column about growing grass?” assignment. She needed it in only two weeks, which was especially tough because she really didn’t know what she wanted – she’d been handed the job by another editor who was going on vacation. There was no fundamental question to answer.

In order to pull this off, I realized that before I could research any answers, I had to come up with the question that would drive this column and give it a reason for existing. Once I’d figured that out (in part by stepping into my readers’ shoes, in part by asking myself, “why should we write about this now?”) I wound up with a story to tell – not a topic to bemoan.

A bad editor? Not at all. But editors often have unexpected holes to fill or mandates to cover certain subjects, regardless of whether there’s any organic reason for it (read: any news). They can’t possibly do enough research to know exactly how to fill all of these holes. My advice?

1. Empathize with the editor, even while you’re complaining like crazy to your spouse or your writer friends.

2. Talk with him or her as often as you need to while researching (clarify, clarify, clarify).

3. Take that vague topic and apply your research to it. Rewrite it into query form, and make sure it has a question that must be answered.

4. Talk to your editor again, and make sure he’s on board. Then, and only then, write the story.

What are the best and worst assignments you’ve ever received? If you’ve ever received an ill-defined assignment and made it work, how did you do it? Do you have any current “write about grass” assignments that you need help turning into real stories? [Elaine Grant]

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