Comments on: Writers Worth: Your What-the-hell Moment

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 27 May 2013 23:51:16 +0000

Good article as I debate having my byline removed from an article that bears little resemblance to the one I turned in . The editor really took a lot of liberty even after I complied with her hefty list of demands for the piece.
I was livid but now after one interviewee wrote to me saying it was 'lovely''. I am still in flux as to what to do…she used words I would NEVER have used and I question some of the published facts. Anyway, I'm trying to laugh but it is still not making it pass my thought process.Lol

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:06:13 +0000

Paula, I can say that LOIs changed my life, too. I have you to thank for that. Sucks that your magazine is cutting back. I suspect we'll see more of that -- I've heard from other writers that similar things are happening with assignments and budgets.

I agree with that producer. It's when you're tired and push for a change that great things begin.

Tereasa, you're right about where the pressure is coming from. My guess is you know exactly what you're doing and can deliver. It's that fear of not delivering that cripples you -- and you'll find it's unfounded once you get going. For me, the clients spell out what they want or I help them do it. That's the outline. Once there's an outline, it's easy to follow.

And what the hell -- RIGHT! :)

By: Tereasa Easton

Tereasa Easton — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:04:01 +0000

This post is very timely for me, and just what I needed to read. I've been 'playing' at copywriting for years, but now that I've started to take the craft seriously, and make more effort to get my name in front of people, the pressure that I put myself under seems immense! And it really shouldn't – I've been writing for years. The blank page is the scariest thing of all when you know that someone is waiting for you to fill it. But 'what the hell', right?!

By: Paula

Paula — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:30:04 +0000

For me, it was when I decided to send LOIs to competing entertainment trades. What did I have to lose? One assigned me something right off. The other called a day too late since they don't use freelancers from the competition.

Coincidentally, this week I asked one of my editors at that trade what changes their new format (weekly as opposed to daily) would have on the annual summer-long special sections I've contributed to for over 13 years. He said it's been scaled back but they're trying to divvy up assignments fairly (I already have three for the first phase). Then he said their freelance budget was slashed. Again.

Because of that - and the fact that the new owners have a sluggish payment system - I decided to send LOIs to a couple of consumer-facing entertainment trades. The timing is good, since I'll have about a dozen pieces in the June issue of Favorite Editor's magazine (yet another reason I refer to her as Favorite Editor). That's technically a trade but reads like a consumer title. Wish me luck.

Somewhat related, I was talking to a producer who said most of her life decisions were traced back to when she was out of college, living in a crappy apartment and despising her life in general. She decided to take risks, since all she had to do is look around and see she literally had nothing to lose.

And Lori, I hope you're feeling better every day!