Carrie Bradshaw Lied: She Couldn’t Afford Manhattan Let Alone Manolos
It’s a mystery – how do people in movies and on t.v. survive on the jobs they never go to? Look at Carrie Bradshaw. She wrote a column. A column. Do you have any idea what writers are paid for columns that aren’t syndicated (and it didn’t appear that hers was)? Here’s a clue – a LOT less per month than the cost of one pair of leopard-print Manolo Blahniks. In fact, if the girl made $500 a month at it, she was doing pretty damned good. Wasn’t that a newspaper she worked for? If so, figure on something like $150. Yet there she was in that fabulous, rent-controlled apartment wearing designer gear from stem to stern. Carrie, you’ve lied to me.
She’s not the only liar in the fiction world – most main characters (with the exception of Will Smith’s character in The Pursuit of Happyness and the ever-popular Willy Loman) are sitting around collecting money from gawd-knows-where and are able to take the time to travel, wax on about their lives, and examine their relationships ad nauseum.
We know the truth. We bust our tails daily in order to afford the braces for the kid or the tires for the car. We pay our bills with pure blood and sweat. We have no time to wonder about our relationships unless someone’s agreed to pay us a buck a word to write about them. Manolos? Try Keds. And I don’t know about you, but my first gig at a newspaper paid me the whopping sum of $35 for a 450-word article. Not exactly going to afford that penthouse on that paycheck.
So here you go. Get yourself a better gig than Miss Carrie had. Maybe you can eventually afford a new gravy boat. :))
Poker Writer
Workshop Presenter
Copywriter/Jewelry
Press Release Writer
Sports Info Specialist
Articles for Website (proceed with caution)
Freelance Reporter
Freelance Marketing Manager
Freelance Writer
Technology Writer
Freelance Proposal Writer (onsite)
I remember thinking the same thing when I watched the show. There was one episode, however, when she mentioned her editor had increased her pay to $4 a word. So that gives you a better idea of what she was supposed to be making for her column.
I remember that episode, too! It might explain how she could live in Manhattan writing one stinking column a month. Even so, if they did the unthinkable and asked for $1K words, that’s still not enough for those fabulous shoes.
It’s why I wear Payless. ;))
Lori, you might want to consider removing the Press Release Writer lead. The poster says in the ad, “This will be great experience and you may use the document as a resume enhancer.” He then goes on to list compensation as “no pay.” I know Craigslist often defaults to this field, but I have a sneaking suspicion that’s really what he intended.