NO FUN GABY DUNN

Dec. 30, 2011 at 3:18pm with 18 notes

thestepswetook asked: Happy Holidays, firstly. I am curious, how did you start writing professionally? Did you go to school for journalism or did you just start pitching your stories to publications? I ask because I'm trying to compile a book of sorts but have no real formal training other than a few college courses in English. But I've been writing since I was 12.

Hey! First of all, I’m a total creep and checked out your blogs. The one about mistakes is a really, really cool idea. I am jealous you thought of it and I hope you keep it up. I can totally see each chapter/post being about different common mistakes (whether it’s what you already have with “mixing work and play” or more specific to you ie: the dating the future pedo one). ANYWAY. It’s great. Keep doing it.

As for writing professionally, I went to college for journalism, but I started writing professionally when I was 14 years old. I sort of lacked that idea of waiting to get published (I’m very impatient) so I started submitting to lit journals and newspaper internships when I was in middle school. I got hired to intern for free for a local paper at 14 and then, pushed to freelance for other sections of the paper for pay. I was really…presumptuous. If I saw something around town I thought could be a story, I’d immediately email my editor and push for it to go into a section where I’d get paid. Eventually when I was 16, I was hired to the community news section, which was kind of unheard of. I’d work for the paper before and after school. One time my dad drove me to interview a source because I didn’t have a car.

I think having the local paper on my resume when I went to apply for college internships really helped because I had one more internship than the other applicants, who mostly worked on high school papers (which is just as valuable as an experience but my HS didn’t have a newspaper).

But! I didn’t start freelancing post-grad until I’d made somewhat of a dent for myself with 100 Interviews. So, this is where this story becomes relevant to you: WRITE. WRITE A LOT. I wrote 100 profile pieces for no one but myself for a year. The Internet is free. I did it on my own time, while working a day job. Then, I had this really active blog to show the places I was pitching to - it became a sort of resume or portfolio and I treated it as such. “Here, look! Here are boundless examples of my writing. It proves I’m committed and can make deadlines and love to write.” It was, I think, indispensable to me in terms of freelancing to have a well-written, active blog presence.

Part of writing freelance is having excellent ideas that fit the publication, the other part is having the editor know who you are. So they could say to themselves, “Oh this is a pitch from Gaby Dunn. She does 100 Interviews. She works hard.” I mean, I can’t read their minds, but the difference between my work being accepted now versus a year ago is staggering.

You do not need formal training. (Taking a class isn’t bad for motivation/learning though.) You’ve been writing since you were young. You already know you’re a writer. Now you just have to hone it. Get an AP stylebook. Read a shitton of blogs or publications you think you’d like to submit to. Craft a short, but sweet introduction about yourself to send with the emails. (Sounds cliche but) be yourself. You can only write as you. You will fit with some publications, and even though you really want to, you will not fit with others.

Also! Get to know editors. There’s nothing wrong with before blindly submitting, emailing the editor of that blog and saying, “Hey, I’m a writer. I love what you do. Can I pick your brain?” I don’t know where you live but either take them out for coffee or offer to interview them and then post it on your blog. There’s no better way to get to know someone then offering to interview them. (Short, if by email, like 5 good questions or do a phone Q&A). Make them want to talk to you. Get to know the editors and then they’ll be more inclined to listen to your pitches.

Like I’ve said a zillion times on here, I submitted to HelloGiggles and the Hairpin a bunch and never got anything. I began to think that meant I was a bad writer. But it doesn’t. It means I don’t fit with those specific publications. Hard to face the rejection, but it’s important to know. I submit a lot of places and mostly get rejected. DO NOT TAKE REJECTION PERSONALLY. I pitch 10 things to the New York Times Magazine, and then I get to write 2. Those 8 others were still good ideas, but not for them and that is okay.

So to recap your question:

1) I started writing professionally very young because I was pushy. I went to school for journalism but I do just pitch stories to places.

2) COMPILE THAT BOOK. I really think if you keep writing and flesh out the “mistakes” blog, it will strike the fancy of the places you’re submitting to (include it at the end of your writing samples). It’s yours, it’s interesting, it sets you apart. Don’t think it means less because it’s “just a personal blog.”

3) You’re already a writer. So submit. Get rejected. And then submit some more. You got this.