SiteAre you approaching freelancing all wrong?
You could say I’m a slow learner. I’ve been writing and editing professionally for more than 20 years, and only this year did I realize that I’ve been approaching my freelance career backwards. The conventional wisdom suggests that success comes to the freelancer who studies the markets and pitches stories that she thinks editors are looking for. And it works! You can pay the rent forever by offering editors the low-hanging fruit, the service stories on the latest gadgets or how to slice a pie in seven ways. But I now think it’s the absolutely wrong way to go about freelancing, unless your greatest ambition is to pay the rent. (If it is, I’d suggest there are easier careers with which to do it.)
I think we should be identifying the stories we’re passionate about, going after them, digging deeply, and offering them to markets that fit — not finding the markets first and then searching for a story. There is, in fact, a market for every story, and why go into this business if you’re not in love with learning new things, meeting new people, investigating new ideas or illuminating the conflict between two passionately motivated groups? Why go into freelancing if you don’t love telling stories?
So I’ve started looking for the “big stories” –the stories about issues I care about and that really matter. It’s given me a new lease on my writing life. And when I met with a new-to-me editor in N.Y. recently, he loved my pitch on a big, meaty subject, even though it will mean big travel expenses for him. He wasn’t interested in my other pitch, a “low-hanging fruit,” easy profile. I’d pitched the profile to him because it fit his demographic and I could toss it off easily. Guess which story I’m in love with? His reaction proved my thesis — that pursuing stories that interest me, outrage me, and scare me is the right way to go.
At a meeting of Way North Writers last week, I noticed that one writer with great ideas is pitching local papers that pay almost nothing with stories that could be national. Despite talent and a deep well of knowledge and experience, he’s constricted by fear. He has phenomenal potential, and yet he’s holding himself back, doing the small stories to pay the rent. It’s hard to watch.
Interestingly, at the Nieman Conference last month, freelancer Dan Baum, a long-time New Yorker writer, said, “Most freelancers think way too small.” He advises doing just what I’m talking about — pitching the big, meaty, controversial stories that get you jazzed. It’s the way in to your dream publications, but more importantly, it’s the way to maintain inspiration and purpose in your writing. And maybe in your life.
What do you think? How do you approach story ideas? Do you hold yourself back?
We’ll discuss this — and a myriad of other intriguing and challenging questions — in the next session of Magazine Writing Basics, which starts on Monday. It’s not too late to sign up. [Elaine Appleton Grant]
10 Responses to “Are you approaching freelancing all wrong?”
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DianaBurrell
Said this on April 26th, 2008 at 9:57am:Elaine, thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this. I’ve come to see this is the only way for me to stay in this profession for the long haul. In fact, I’ve made some decisions within the last month, which I’ll be blogging about, that have me truly excited about my writing and my future.
And a shameless plug for Elaine’s class, but it truly is an outstanding class. I learned so much simply by formatting her copy for the website that I felt guilty I hadn’t paid for it. Elaine, next time we meet, I’ll buy the coffee.
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Meryl K. Evans
Said this on April 27th, 2008 at 2:17pm:Also some freelancers think only to go after magazines and newspapers. There’s lots of work in business writing and you spend less time because you skip the querying process. Great post.
Jess Sand
Said this on April 27th, 2008 at 5:13pm:Thanks for this post - I think it’s a really important one. I can’t help but think that the reason quality journalism is so sparse these days has much to do with freelancers feeling like we have to pitch for the lowest common denominator in order to make a living. I’ve found that as I’ve gotten pickier about my subject matter, the gigs have gotten better, too. And even better than better gigs is the better quality of writing I’m able to produce.
Alison Stein Wellner
Said this on April 27th, 2008 at 6:57pm:Bravo, Elaine! There are so many ways to make a buck –and ways that are much easier than writing at at that –so writing *just* for the money is sort of silly. We who are fortunate enough to make our living with words owe it to the profession to make passion and quality our priorities!
And now I’m down off my soapbox. Great post!
Alison
Elaine Grant
Said this on April 27th, 2008 at 9:17pm:Thanks, Diana, and I’ll take you up on that cup of coffee. And thanks to you Allison, whose work I greatly admire!
Today I was listening to the CD of the Nieman session I mentioned in my post, and I was struck by something else that Dan Baum said. He wasn’t simply talking about pitching the meaty stories — he was talking about the notion that most freelancers aim too low when they query. “I started writing for the big magazines when I was writing for the small ones,” he said — meaning The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Atlantic, Harpers, etc. He went on to say that editors at those publications — dream pubs for many of us — are dying for good queries from good writers. The implication: we writers stop ourselves from achieving our dreams. We are our own worst gatekeepers. I’m going to keep this bit of advice in mind.
Joy
Said this on April 28th, 2008 at 7:50am:This is really interesting. I’ve been reading a lot about the two sides of this issue: One says that you should take whatever you can when you are just starting out, the other, similar to this post says to reach for what you really want, what you’re passionate about. Frankly, I’m not sure which way to go at this point, but found the post very interesting and inspirational. Thanks!
Kerry Dexter
Said this on April 29th, 2008 at 10:40am:It’s good to be reminded, and to have the encouragement too. I couldn’t count the number of people over the years who’ve told me to to grow up and quit writing about the arts. There have been rough and rocky times to be sure [right now I’m in one of those] but that just makes me more passionate, and I hope, more creative, about finding ways to make that work.
Meryl.net » Links: 2008-05-02
Said this on May 2nd, 2008 at 9:18am:[…] Are You Approaching Freelancing All Wrong? […]