Write What You Know—Or Not

Odds are, you've heard the maxim spouted off by high school English teachers: Write what you know. At least I remember mine saying that over and over. But the thing is, in high school I didn't want to write what I knew about. That was boring. That was just my everyday life. Why would anyone find that interesting?

In college, I changed my tune. I grew up in a small (very small—hardly on the map small) town in Wyoming. When I lived there, it wasn't remarkable. It was just life.

What I knew for the first 18 years of my life:
Devil's Tower and the Black Hills of Wyoming.
Photo via Flickr by Spappy.joneS

But when I headed to college in Iowa, suddenly I realized all those daily experiences I thought were so normal were actually quite remarkable. I learned that it's not every day the old timer cowboys golf in their manure-covered boots or that you can say your family grew up owning a "mountain." And so I wrote about Wyoming. It was what I knew, and it made for interesting stories.

After college, though, I wrote about other things I was assigned to write about—remodeling, decorating, health and wellness on occasion, business, green living. They weren't things I necessarily knew, but I learned about them as I went and so came to know a fair amount about these topics.

At this point, as the distance between my time in my home state and my life away from it increased, Wyoming became less what I knew than a collection of peculiar-sweet memories that made for good stories with friends or random people who remarked with surprise on where I grew up.

Now, however, I find myself gravitating back toward writing about what I know more.

As a new mom, I have started a growing list of stories I'd like to pitch to parenting magazines. And as a woman who suffers from endometriosis, I am researching and writing more about what this chronic illness is and how it affects my life. I have started a new blog on the topic, am busy connecting online with other women who have endometriosis, and I have ideas swirling around in my head for articles I want to write, more in-depth research I want to do, and even a book I may want to pitch to a publisher someday down the road.

These are the things I know now, the things I have personal experience with, the things that interest me at the moment. Sure, I'd still have to do research and line up expert or "real life" interviews to write articles on parenting or endometriosis. But I'd also have my own unique insights to contribute, which is incredibly valuable.

Last week, my freelance writing students brought in lists of story ideas they had brainstormed. Many of them struggled because, they said, they didn't know anything. They weren't experts on anything, so what could they possibly write about?

I told them two things:

1. You know more than you think. And writing about what you know—what you have experience with and personal knowledge of—is incredibly valuable and can set you apart. Don't downplay what you know or think it's mundane. Odds are, if it's interesting to you, it's interesting to other people too.

2. You don't have to write what you know. Think of a topic that interests you, that you wonder about and think others will wonder about as well. As a journalist, you aren't expected to know everything you write about inside and out. If you have a great idea, can do the necessary research and find the right sources, and identify the right market for your story, you can write about you want, even if you aren't an expert.

In other words: write what you know—or not.


A brief public service announcement: March is Endometriosis Awareness Month and I, along with many of my fellow endometriosis sufferers, are trying to spread the word about this chronic illness that affects as many as 10 percent of women in the United States.

Odds are, whether you realize it or not, you know someone who has endometriosis. You may even suffer from it yourself. But it's an incurable illness that often goes undiagnosed for years—and most women keep silent about because its symptoms aren't something they are comfortable talking about publicly. That needs to change, so people are aware of the problems endometriosis causes, so doctors become more informed of what can be done to help women with endometriosis, and so researchers have more funding to support efforts to find its causes and new treatments.

Please take a moment to learn about endometriosis and spread the word about this illness that affects so many women's fertility and quality of life.

Common Magazine Terms Defined

As I jumped into a discussion of magazines in my freelance writing class earlier today, I discovered I was talking in what many students in my class thought was a foreign tongue.

As so many people do when they're speaking the language of their profession, I rattled off magazine-specific terms and phrases in my discussion as if everyone sitting around the table with me knew what I meant.

As it turns out, once I stopped to ask them, most did not.

So I slowed down and spent some time explaining a few of the most important terms to my students, because the truth of the matter is, if you're going to be a successful magazine freelancer or editor or even designer, you need to speak the language.

Here are a few of the most common terms we discussed or will be discussing soon:

Departments/Front of Book (FOB)/Back of Book (BOB)—Departments are the sections generally found at the front of the magazine (or front of book—FOB) and the back of the magazine (or back of book—BOB). Departments usually feature smaller articles focused on a specific topic, which are grouped together in the same section of the magazine. (Side note: At many publications, departments are a great place for freelancers to "break in" to the publication.)

Features/Feature Well—Features are the key content of the magazine. Most publications include a variety of types of features each month—say, a profile or two, an investigative piece, maybe a service article of some type. The length may vary, but generally these articles are longer and more in-depth than what you'll find in the departments. Feature articles are usually grouped together in the feature "well," located at the center of the magazine.

Coverlines—The short titles or article descriptions that appear on the cover of the magazine and are used to "sell" the content in that issue (sometimes called "sell lines").

Masthead—A partial- or full-page list at the front of the magazine (usually near the table of contents and/or editor's letter) that credits the magazine staff including editors, designers, proofreaders, photographers, and executives associated with the publisher. (Sometimes lucky freelancers even get listed in the masthead as contributors.)

Table of Contents (TOC)—The listing of all departments and feature articles included in that particular issue of the magazine—often with brief descriptions of each—found near the beginning of the book.

Hed—Magazine slang for "headline," or the title of each article.

Dek—Magazine slang for "subtitle," or the words located near the title that provide additional clues as to what the article is about. (Not all department pieces include a dek; most feature articles do.)

Subhead—Short phrases or words used within longer articles to break up different sections of the story and provide organization.

Byline—The name of the author listed with the article to give him/her credit.

Cutline—The words that appear near a photo to describe the image or its context (also called a "caption").

Folio—The line that usually appears near the outside bottom of most magazine pages, which generally lists some combination of the page number, name of the magazine, and/or date of the issue.

Initial cap—The first letter of a word designed in a different typeface and/or larger type size to stand out (sometimes also called a "niche cap"); it's often used to introduce the first letter of the first word in a feature article.

Dingbat—Also called an endmark, it's the small image or icon some magazines use to signify the end of an article.

Pull quote—Words pulled from an article that are designed to serve as a textual element on a photo or a visual break on a text-heavy page.

What common magazine terms did I forget? Let me know!

Your Assignment: Drop Everything and Read

I'm teaching a college freelance writing roundtable course this semester, and one ongoing assignment I'm giving my students is to read magazines. Lots of magazines. A variety of magazines.

When we next meet in class, I'm going to tell them that they should spend time each week perusing not only the publications they already know and love, but also any other magazines they can get their hands on.

I'm going to encourage them to go over to friends' houses and raid their coffee tables, to dive with gusto into whatever random titles they come across in the dentist's office or while they're waiting at the vet. (Yes, I know those public copies in waiting rooms are germ central. But come on. So is about every place on a college campus.) 

I'm going to suggest that they head to the nearest bookstore, grab a latte, and spend a few hours perusing the racks upon racks of magazines for sale there. They don't have to buy any, but they should at least loiter for a few hours and see what they can find.

I'm going to encourage them to step outside their comfort zones, to flip through AARP or Modern Dog or whatever other title they come across that might be new to them.

And then I'm going to take my own advice. And I suggest that you take it, too.

Because the thing I realized today is that I don't look at magazines enough anymore. I used to have a voracious appetite for them in college. I'd explore any issue I could get my hands on. It was a passion, perhaps even an addiction. Plus it was basically a requirement for a magazine journalism major.

Now I read a few of my favorite titles when I get a chance, but when it comes to work, I rarely pick up a magazine unless I'm eying it as a potential market.

And you know what? By doing that I'm missing out on markets I might not have realized are out there, on story ideas that might spring to mind as I read an article in a certain publication. I'm missing out on a potential creative spark.

Yeah, I know sitting with a stack of magazines is not anything I can bill time for. It's not something that will immediately yield a paycheck. But for a freelance writer who's always seeking new article ideas and new markets, it's a key step in the creative process.

What magazines do you rely on for inspiration?

Photo: theseanster93 via flickr

Using the B Word

No, I'm not talking about that B Word. I'm talking about another B Word that many freelancers don't like to use: Business.

Are you open for business?

If you're like many freelancers, you start out dabbling, taking on writing projects here and there while you continue with your full-time work as a doctor, a lawyer, a grocery store clerk, or whatever it may be (really, I know examples of all three who freelance on the side).

That's what I did. Right out of college, I was fortunate to land a full-time gig in publishing. But I still freelance wrote and copy edited on the side because I loved the work, I thrive on being busy, and I liked having a little extra fun money. Any projects I did were tackled in evenings, on weekends, or occasionally on my lunch hour.

I'd track my time if I was being paid hourly but otherwise didn't pay attention to how long a project took. I wasn't worried about the rates I was paid; I was just excited to get some extra cash. I had three solid clients I was incredibly happy working for and could care less if I landed any others, although I did jump at an occasional one-time opportunity for some work if it happened to land at my feet.

That all changed when I became a full-time freelancer. Suddenly the projects I landed weren't paying for plane and concert tickets, they were paying for car and health insurance bills. Securing a random project here and there wasn't enough.

That's when I realized that full-time freelancing isn't like having a hobby. It's business.

Running a business means getting serious about the things I hadn't worried about before, like tracking how long different types of projects take so I know how much I'm making and how much I should charge.

It means staying on top of invoices and tracking income and setting goals for how much I need to make weekly, monthly, yearly to pay the bills. (Not to mention making sure those paychecks arrive.)

It's actively seeking new work—often—rather than sitting and waiting for projects to come to me.

It means diversifying the types of services I'm offering rather than relying solely on my bread-and-butter projects.

It means building relationships with clients—from those who have been around for a while to new ones I'm just starting to work for, with the hope they, too, will be around for a while.

It means marketing myself, my work, my business—yes, I said it again—anytime, all the time, as much as possible.

It's true: In the midst of running the business aspect of freelancing, it can be hard to find the time to actually write and edit and complete the projects that necessitate all this other stuff.

But finding a way to stay on top of the business is the name of the game if you're going to be successful.

What part of the freelance "business" do you like the least?

Photo: Studeo Grinta via Flickr

New Year, New Resolve

I'm starting off 2013 on a mission to rededicate myself to my freelance writing and editing career—and, along with it, this blog.

 I stepped out of the full-time freelancing world a few years ago when I took on a job working as the sustainability manager for a community college. Although I still dabbled in a few writing and copy editing projects here and there, most of that work took a backburner to my full-time job.

(Although, thankfully, my job did give me plenty of opportunities to write, edit, and communicate in new ways—now I've added grant writing and communications consulting to my freelance skill set!)

But now I'm back to juggling a combination of college teaching and freelancing, and I couldn't be more excited.

Of course, diving back in comes with plenty of legwork. I started by reconnecting with editors and publishers I've worked with closely in the past to let them know I'm back in the game. (It's a great time to do so, as many are planning for 2013 and making assignments right now.)

I'm also trolling the usual sites, as so many freelancers do, looking for gigs worth applying for. I'm brainstorming story ideas I want to pitch to a variety of consumer pubs. And, of course, I'm updating my resume, my LOI, and profiles on freelance sites, all while trying to whip my freelance website into shape because it has gotten woefully outdated.

So much to do, and so little time. But it's only Jan. 4, and I'm well on my way.

As a freelancer, what do you do to kickstart a new year?

Photo: VancityAllie via Flickr

Fancy Words

Recently, the New York Times After Deadline blog posted about the 50 words that most stump Times readers.

There are some words on there I know and enjoy—I love inchoate, sanguine, and feckless. There are some I would most definitely mispronounce if asked to say them aloud—those foreign terms don't always glide off the tongue. There are a few I'm surprised made the list—hubris, overhaul, laconic. And there are more than a few I've had to look up time and again.

Many of the words are the sort that may be difficult to define when taken out of context. But when they're positioned in a sentence in an article with a specific focus and even tone, I find the information around those tricky words give enough clues for me to muddle through the meaning or at least understand the point the writer is trying to make.

The beauty of reading the Times on the Internet, however, is that I don't have to muddle through. All I have to do is double-click on the word in question and voila! I have a definition from the American Heritage Dictionary.

In the blog post, the question is raised as to whether such words should be used if readers don't understand them or know what they mean.

As Philip B. Corbett writes in the blog post:

But even the most studious readers are likely to stumble over at least some of these words. I don’t suggest banning any of them — in some cases they may be the perfect choice, and we refuse to talk down to readers or dumb down our prose.

Still, we should remember that this is journalism, not philology. Our readers, smart as they are, are often in a hurry. They may be standing on the subway or skimming a story over breakfast. Let’s not make them work any harder than necessary.

It's a good point to remember whether you're writing a news brief or a magazine feature. Beautiful language can enhance any article. But used thoughtlessly or excessively, it does little more than hinder readers and mask the information your article seeks to provide.

Not sure about using a certain word or phrase? If all else fails, remember Strunk & White's timeless advice:

"Avoid the elaborate, the pretentious, the coy, and the cute. Do not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able."

Tough 2009? You're Not Alone.

About 40 percent of freelancers had trouble getting paid in 2009, according to a survey released last month by the Freelancers Union in New York.

According to the organization, more than 3 out of 4 freelancers said they've had trouble getting paid over the course of their careers.

And if an article on the topic published today in the Wall Street Journal is any indication, freelancers' struggles with getting payment are far from over.

Are you having difficulty getting paid for work you've done? What are your strategies for getting payment when payment is due?