Here's what I'd like to tell you...
I attended the best journalism school in the country, got straight A's, landed a to-die-for position at a highbrow glossy magazine upon graduation and made boatloads of money instantly making me the "must have" writer de jour.
Well, you know what they say, "If it sounds too good to be true…."
So here's what really happened…
I never intended to be a writer. Tis true. I was headed for private practice as a child psychologist when, on a lark, I applied for an adjunct faculty position. I'd never intended to teach either, but found myself head-over-heels after teaching my first undergrad psychology class at age 23. And so I taught - for more than ten years. When I tired of that, I took a spin as a Dean of Students at a private all-girl high school (oh, the stories I could tell…).
My career in academia ended abruptly when, seventeen weeks into my first pregnancy, I went into premature labor. After stopping the labor, my obstetrician glanced my way and said, "So what did you used to do for a living?" Um…come again? What did I used to do? Past tense? Turns out, I was sentenced to complete bed rest for the duration of the pregnancy. Talk about life-altering. I went from career chic to human incubator in the blink of an eye. Of course, my husband had it worse. He became sole earner, caretaker, cook, shopper, housekeeper, and medical nurse to one highly agitated human incubator.
When our daughter was finally born, I decided not to return to work. But anyone with a newborn knows that saying, "I decided not to return to work," is factually inaccurate. I'd never worked harder or longer or for a more demanding boss. Soon after, we had a son (and yes, I spent six more months on complete bed rest - way trickier with a toddler underfoot!). For a few years I enjoyed my stay-at-home mom status. But eventually, I grew mentally numb in a world filled solely with Playtex sippy cups, apple slices ("Skin off, Mommy!"), and bedtime stories filled with goofy cartoon characters. I wasn't ready - or willing - to park my kids in day care, jam myself into pantyhose and head out to work, but I needed to jump-start my grown-up brain. Question was: how?
The idea to try my hand at writing evolved from my reading addiction. Some people are addicted to alcohol, some to cigarettes or lottery tickets - me, I'm addicted to magazines. I love the bright glossy look, the feel of the thin crisp paper, the portability, the snippets of useful and interesting factoids, and the sneak peek into the minds of the women who pour their innermost thoughts onto the printed page. One winter afternoon while my kids napped, I sank on the sofa, exhausted, and flipped through a popular parenting magazine. Instead of savoring this rare "me" time, I found myself annoyed - really annoyed - at the advice given in an article on handling temper tantrums. I can give better advice than that! I thought. Then it hit me - I could write for magazines!
Now there are varying opinions on where newbie freelancers should start looking for assignments. It seems the general consensus is that new writers need to start at the bottom. The idea being that each writer needs to pay his or her dues and diligently practice the craft of writing before attempting to pitch to the Big Leagues. New writers often wind up writing for pennies, or worse - for free, at the start of their careers. Lucky for me, I was so "green" I didn't even realize that this discouraging "pay your dues" advice to new writers existed. I just knew I wanted to get to work building a satisfying career that was manageable from home since I had two young kids in my care.
The next day, I signed up for an adult education writing course at the local high school (taught, amazingly enough, by the multi-talented and super-sweet author of the Renegade Writer books, Diana Burrell). After that, I signed up for an online query writing course, and two weeks later sold two stories to Parenting magazine and one to Woman's Day (to preserve my, er…professional image, I've edited out the part where I froze in terror - think baby deer paralyzed in the stunning glare of Mack truck high beams - at the thought of having to actually write the stories I'd pitched).
In hindsight, I'm convinced I sold to Parenting because I tied my pitches to my background expertise in psychology. The two parenting topics that sold were "reverse psychology" and "bribes versus rewards." I'm convinced the editor took a chance on me based, not on my writing experience or skills, but on the fact that I had two young children and an academic background in psychology.
I truly believe that if you're an intelligent person with solid writing skills and the drive to succeed, starting at the bottom makes absolutely no sense. The secret is knowing your strengths and showing editors that you can bring something to their magazine that no one else can (this could be your sparkling prose, stellar reporting skills, a sarcastic tongue-in-cheek writing style, a unique special skill or hobby to draw on, personal experience on a particular topic, or a celebrity contact). Anything that makes you stand out is a plus in the writing business. So whether you're a professional dog groomer, an accountant, or an emergency room nurse, start out writing about what you know. Soon enough, you can branch out and write about whatever you want to know.
Cheers,
Deborah Carpenter
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