Freelancing is Not Writing

The weird thing about freelancing your writing / editing skills is that even when you're freelancing, you're not actually writing because it's not what your heart yearns to write. Oh sure, you're typing out lovely sentences or remolding other people's efforts into shiny attractions, but it's not where your heart beats. It enhances your craft immensely (a must) and creates cash flow, but it's not your deepest calling.

For whatever reason, it's often difficult for me to switch from freelancing mode to deeper calling writing. I can zip out the emails, scribble down cool stuff the kid did, and create marketing materials at work while freelancing, but the undercurrents of hope and desire demand an immersion that often frightens me. This immersion demands an effort I may not be able to enact--so it's easier to choose lesser pursuits (or chase distractions) than to face it.

Nose-to-Nose

Maybe that's how everyone feels when standing nose-to-nose with their calling, but when you're alone with the laptop, there's no one to cheer you on. That's why reading author interviews, author biographies, literary journals, and writing books is essential for my well-being--it maintains my perspective.

This little "Best Advice" tidbit from Narrative Magazine is what is pushing me on at the moment:

“We were talking about our creative writing students at Stanford, when the poet Alan Shapiro told me, “The most important talent is the talent for work. Without that, nothing else much matters.” Over the years I have found that advice increasingly persuasive." - Ron Hansen

Hmmm

Not "quality work," not "immortal sentences," not "stunning characterization," but work.

Freelancing may not be writing, but maybe it isn't a waste either. Maybe it's what my life needs to add texture and humanity to my deeper calling. Maybe I just need to learn to live with the fear so that the work can accumulate into something greater.

Though I cannot glimpse its completion now, I must continue to compose it in faith.

Freelancing A Dream

I’m enjoying a special thrill of freelancing: seeing my byline in a prestigious (albeit niche) magazine. The Writer is the oldest continuous writing magazine in America and the November 2009 issue features my contribution to its best-known regular feature—“Why I Write.” (It's at the very bottom of the page.) Plus it pays real money.

After I got over the initial euphoria of achievement, I realized how easy the entire process had been; I knew I had to share it:

1. Find a well-known author to interview—this is easier than it seems if you’re near a major metropolitan area. Many bookstores and libraries publish their upcoming author visits in advance. Visit their web sites often. If you’re not near a metro area, attend writing conferences.

2. Query the big magazine (and some little ones)—Email the appropriate editor at The Writer (or big name magazine you’re hoping to appear in) to see if they’re interested in the interview. If they are, you’re in. Caveat: This assumes you’ve studied the magazine to understand their needs.) Query some smaller magazines and web sites as well with the same inducement. IF they all say yes—O blessed day—just use different quotes and styles for each publication.

3. Snag the interview—Google the author’s name + “agent.” Email the agent/publicist a short message that includes what magazine(s) and /or web sites you’re conducting the interview for, as well as literary clips (book reviews, interviews, essays) you’ve earned to prove you’re serious.

4. Conduct the Interview—Read the author’s latest book(s) to ask intelligent questions. Ask for a contact email for follow-up.

5. Write your Article(s)—Follow the magazine guidelines. Contact the author with follow-up questions. Most writers I’ve dealt with will email you back (instead of talk over the phone).

6. Submit the Article

7. Smile when they ask for rewrites—That means they’re going to publish it.

Two Notes:

1. I’ve used this process before and been rejected by The Writer (and other magazines). That’s why you line up more than one publication.
2. I emailed The Writer last June, 2008 and was told there was a backlog for my feature if I was willing to wait. I reminded the editor in a short, friendly email of my interest around January 2009 and he contacted me in the Spring that it was scheduled. It’s taken over a year, but it’s worth it. It’s on newsstands now.

Yours can be on the newsstands soon. It’s that easy.