Also, not a bad side gig/night job if it's not what you want to do full time, not that such a job would pay the bills anyway.
And, not to be a downer, but I'd like to reiterate this. Don't quit your day job. It's extremely difficult to support yourself solely as a freelancer, and impossible as a newbie. Coming out of school, I found that out the hard way.
If you really want to cover basketball, I'd suggest walking into a community newspaper and offer to cover high school or college games. Some small newsrooms are desperate for this sort of writer. Good features stories to pitch are on upcoming young, local players. Maybe after a few decent stories from you they'd be more likely to take your feature piece.
Yo this, I didn't think about. Thanks for your advice.
I prefer it when writers come in to me with more than one idea so that I can get the measure of the writer and understand where they might best be used.
Time sensitive pieces rarely come off given the limitations of monthly / weekly publishing. Dailies are obviously better for the breaking stuff.
See if you can get in to see an editor for 20 minutes and just get your face known and then maintain contact.
Always pitch the idea, never the finished piece unless it's some kind of exclusive interview or investigative piece.
Don't give up - rejection and freelance journalism go hand in hand. Do not quibble about money when you're trying to get a footing.
Do stick some of writing up on a blog somewhere or leave some of your articles (published or unpublished) with the publication.
Do tailor pieces to the publication - look at their usual word counts, article structure and tone and be aware of the demographic.
Don't be precious about having your pieces cut to ribbons by subs and editors. Accept that the killer line you lovingly crafted might not make the final cut.
Be enthusiastic and believe in your own ability...and just write. Lots.
Good advice on writing a lot, and not trying to make money off it right away. Thanks to all those that contributed, fo real. Now all I need to do is follow through.
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
Good advice on writing a lot, and not trying to make money off it right away.
Just to clarify...don't expect freelance writing to pay all of your bills...but definitely demand that you be paid for any work that you do. Not being stern about that creates a horrible precedent, not just for yourself but every entry-level writer anywhere.
I initially left out advice on slapping any writer you know that ever works for free (unless it's for some sort of charity/community service). But that's about the best union we have going to protect ourselves from being used and abused.
Big_Stacks"I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
Hey Yuichi,
The key, as many have said, is persistence (and good writing, of course). Rejection is a prequisite of publishing. I get way more articles rejected than I publish, but you must believe in your work and abilities and keep pitching your articles. I simply send a lot of papers out to combat the low probability of publication. Eventually, good work will find a home, although maybe not the one you'd prefer. Another key is visibility, and once you've had enough articles printed, better outlets will be more receptive to your work. Plus, after going through rounds of revisions with editors, you'll learn how to craft your pieces to better suit the tastes of various outlets. Best of luck, mane!!!
Lot of solid advice here: flomotion's list was especially thorough and I wouldn't disagree with anything noted there.
I also would second Harvey's pt that apart from writing to get your craft in order, living to broaden your experience, reading is tremendously useful and in particular, read writing outside of what your writing about. In other words, in yuichi's case, make an effort to read stuff not sports-related. It may not immediately seem intuitive but if the point is finding ways to make your writing more creative and interesting, then reading works outside your area of interest would help immensely with that. I don't take that advice enough myself.
Comments
And, not to be a downer, but I'd like to reiterate this. Don't quit your day job. It's extremely difficult to support yourself solely as a freelancer, and impossible as a newbie. Coming out of school, I found that out the hard way.
Yo this, I didn't think about. Thanks for your advice.
Thank you for this cornucopia of procedures.
Just to clarify...don't expect freelance writing to pay all of your bills...but definitely demand that you be paid for any work that you do. Not being stern about that creates a horrible precedent, not just for yourself but every entry-level writer anywhere.
I initially left out advice on slapping any writer you know that ever works for free (unless it's for some sort of charity/community service). But that's about the best union we have going to protect ourselves from being used and abused.
The key, as many have said, is persistence (and good writing, of course). Rejection is a prequisite of publishing. I get way more articles rejected than I publish, but you must believe in your work and abilities and keep pitching your articles. I simply send a lot of papers out to combat the low probability of publication. Eventually, good work will find a home, although maybe not the one you'd prefer. Another key is visibility, and once you've had enough articles printed, better outlets will be more receptive to your work. Plus, after going through rounds of revisions with editors, you'll learn how to craft your pieces to better suit the tastes of various outlets. Best of luck, mane!!!
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
I also would second Harvey's pt that apart from writing to get your craft in order, living to broaden your experience, reading is tremendously useful and in particular, read writing outside of what your writing about. In other words, in yuichi's case, make an effort to read stuff not sports-related. It may not immediately seem intuitive but if the point is finding ways to make your writing more creative and interesting, then reading works outside your area of interest would help immensely with that. I don't take that advice enough myself.