Advice for a Variety of Writing Genres

By Zack on January 5, 2010

One of the things I really like about our Blank Page program is the diversity of writing styles we get with the guests. From fiction to journalism to comic books to screenwriters, the show covers a wide-range of genres of interest to an aspiring writer.

But that's not to say that any writer has to stick to one form. Lots of writers have been successful in both the fiction and non-fiction worlds, while some novelists move on to screenwriting. That is why I am interested in the news that popular career advice blogger Alexandra Levit is shifting gears and trying her hand at youth fiction.

In a blog post yesterday, Levit provides useful insight into the similarities and differences in dispensing career advice versus writing youth fiction:

Good fiction writing is an art form: To write my journalism articles, and even my nonfiction books, I follow a strict process that begins with research, continues with interviewing and draft writing, and finishes with one - maybe two - edits. When my editors provide feedback, it's usually in the form of nips and tucks. Novel writing, on the the other hand, involves mixing a pallet of characters, settings, and plot lines. Sometimes you get lucky and you come across something brilliant, and sometimes it all goes horribly wrong. And the editing is often done by chainsaw.

Levit raises a number of different points between the two genres, including dealing with the disparate deadline style and the role of objectivity. So, while it's great to focus on one aspect of your writing, it's also important to realize that you don't need to be pigeon-holed into just one genre. It i, however, necessary to analyze and examine the differences between the genres to improve your writing.

Blogging Opportunities with Microsoft

By Zack on December 16, 2009

TechCrunch reports on a new opportunity for college students to gain some legit blogging experience as well as some free trips ... not to mention putting Microsoft on your resume:

We’ve confirmed with Microsoft that the tech giant has launched a new program, called Student Insiders, to enlist college students to blog about Microsoft products. In return, the Microsoft “Student Insider” will be able to attend Microsoft conferences, such as Microsoft’s developer conference, PDC, and others and then write about their experiences and the products. The student will get all expenses paid to attend conferences as well as receive free training on Microsoft products. Student Insiders are expected to cover 15 events or topics a year, with at least “500 engagements per event/topic.”

A lot of the comments focus on the potential bias of student bloggers essentially being bribed to write about Microsoft. But you know what, phooey to that. This program just seems like a great way for college students to gain some valuable tech-writing experience. It's also a great way to see the inner workings of covering a conference as a blogger. And so what if they pimp a little bit of MS products to their peers?

TC also points out some other opportunities for students with Microsoft's Student Partners and DreamSpark programs.

ThinkTalk Interviews: Andrew Ross Sorkin, Too Big To Fail

By Zack on November 12, 2009

Last week I had the opportunity to sit down with Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times mergers and acquisitions reporter and author of the new book Too Big To Fail. Andrew has some great tips for aspiring reporters as we discuss how he crafted this epic account of the Wall Street Crisis, his writing style, and how he got his start at the Times.

Andrew's been a pretty popular guy lately, as the book has been a best-seller. In fact, today's New York Magazine pokes a little fun at Andrew with an excerpt from his follow up, Too Big to Fail and ZOMBIES:

Geithner insisted that the Fed had AIG under control and again attempted to move the conversation along. But Pandit pressed on.

"What about Merrill?" he asked.

It made for an awkward moment, as Merrill CEO John Thain was only seats away. He had remained notably silent during the exchanges.

"You guys get this done for me, and I'll make sure I can take care of AIG and Merrill," Paulson replied. "I'm a little uncomfortable talking about Merrill with John right in the room." He glanced uneasily at Thain, whose face, everyone suddenly became aware, had taken on a deathly pallor. "John," said Paulson hesitantly. "Have you been bitten?"

It was then that Thain let out a gutteral animal howl. Half-rising from his chair, he lunged toward Pandit. "BRAINS!" he moaned.

Funny, funny stuff. But, seriously, it's a great book about what went wrong with Wall Street, and Andrew himself is a great example of a successful career in journalism. So watch, listen, learn and enjoy:

Embracing the Journalist as Entrepreneur

By Zack on October 28, 2009

As Mindy yesterday's post we just wrapped a great interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times financial reporter and author of Too Big To Fail, a very extensive and very engrossing play-by-play of last year's Wall Street Crisis. Andrew was great, we got some really good info from him, and I can't wait to put the interview up online. But in the meantime, it got me thinking about careers in Journalism.

Andrew did not have what use to be called a traditional path to the Times. He didn't start at as a cub reporter at a small town weekly or daily and work his way up the markets to a prime time gig. He scored an internship and used his specialized knowledge of the internet to land an opportunity to write a feature story. He did a great job and parlayed it into a successful career.

20 years ago, this would have been rare. Anymore, however, it's the specialized journalists, consciously aware of their own career paths, who are going to succeed. I point to blogger Conor Friedersdorf post today at The American Scene in which he expounds on the interesting work at NYU's Journalism School.

Though I understand a graduate degree in journalism seems like an insane proposition to many right now, applications are up at all the programs where I’ve spoken to faculty, and if you’re going to pursue that course of study, I am more convinced everyday that NYU is the place to do it. Among readers of The American Scene, Jay Rosen is probably the most well known professor. His analysis of the changing media landscape is certainly more sophisticated than anything being done at Columbia University. And beyond Professor Rosen, the program as a whole is making an effort — how successful it’ll be is beyond knowing — to train students for the actual world they’ll be facing, rather than running a program as if they’re all going to get jobs as cub reporters at daily newspapers.

An example just posted on the course listings: “Entrepreneurial Journalism, taught by Adam Penenberg.”

Journalists who can successfully navigate these turbulent media times must be equal parts journalist and entrepreneur. In this seminar students will learn how to build successful freelance careers, manage their own journalism brands that they will extend through social media platforms like Twitter, pitch ideas for media start ups, write their own business plans or book proposals, and explore ways to attract venture capital. There will be a lot of learning by doing. Students will work as media entrepreneurs and run their own online publications, which they will operate as a business. At its center will be a blog, where students will post several times a week.

They’ll retain an ad server, market their work to the blogosphere (and beyond) and track traffic. The semester will culminate with students either drafting their own business plan for a media start-up that they will pitch in class to a venture capitalist, or penning a formal book proposal, which a literary agent will also critique in class. Guests will include well-known journalists, successful media entrepreneurs, literary agents and venture capitalists.

I'm familiar with Rosen's work (even follow him on Twitter) and Friedersdorf is absolutely right. He quite simply has an amazing grasp of and insight into how technology and the changing media landscape could be used by existing and future journalists. Rosen's Rebooting the News podcast with Dave Winer is a great example of this. So if you cannot get into NYU, are still an undergrad or just have a passion for journalism, you should be paying attention to Rosen.

Similarly, I love this concept of journalist as entrepreneur. I'm a bit hesitant to fully embrace all the "personal branding" talk, but there is something to be said for cultivating the public's perception of you as a journalist. A personal blog, twitter, LinkedIn and even Facebook can be useful, as a student or young journo, to spread the reach of your work. Furthermore, you can use your personal work and online presence as the foundation for future work (this is all loosely established in Chris Anderson's Free which lays the groundwork for using free content to promote yourself or your product). The more (positive) results you have in a Google search, the more credibility and authority your work will have. This means that for freelance purposes or even snagging a full-time writing job, you have an advantage of recent grads who don't have that kind of presence.

Is Journalism School Wrong For Your Career?

By Zack on October 20, 2009

I'm a pretty big Malcolm Gladwell fan. Say what you want about his quirky approach to writing (or his hair) and the leaps and liberties he takes with the science he presents, the fact of the matter is that the guy opens up your mind to ideas and experiences you wouldn't normally consider. His books and his New Yorker articles are a must read and, to me, he is an excellent example of the magazine journalist.

That being said, he should be a pretty good source for advice on a career in journalism, right? Time has a great Q&A with Gladwell that covers topics like how he chooses a story, his thoughts on education and what advice he has for aspiring writers:

The issue is not writing. It's what you write about. One of my favorite columnists is Jonathan Weil, who writes for Bloomberg. He broke the Enron story, and he broke it because he's one of the very few mainstream journalists in America who really knows how to read a balance sheet. That means Jonathan Weil will always have a job, and will always be read, and will always have something interesting to say. He's unique. Most accountants don't write articles, and most journalists don't know anything about accounting. Aspiring journalists should stop going to journalism programs and go to some other kind of grad school. If I was studying today, I would go get a master's in statistics, and maybe do a bunch of accounting courses and then write from that perspective. I think that's the way to survive. The role of the generalist is diminishing. Journalism has to get smarter.

This sounds like some pretty sound advice to me. Look, traditionally, to be a journalist, you needed to be flexible. Over the course of your career you may cover a number of different beats. I have a friend who started out covering real estate. She moved to the local crime beat and ended up the bureau chief in Iraq. That's flexibility.

But one trend I see in a number of journalists that I interview for The Blank Page is that they have formally studied something other than journalism. Journalism is something that you learn on the job, in the field, much better than you can in a classroom. Economics, statistics and political science are the exact opposite. They are steeped in research and theory and are better understood from a scholarly angle than in the thick of the action (if anything related to statistics can be termed "Action").

So I have to agree with Gladwell here. If you are a graduating J-student or a recent grad thinking of Grad School, consider strengthening another core knowledge area and using that specialization to land yourself a job.

A perfect example of this is The New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin, a mergers and acquisitions columnist and reporter, whose newest book Too Big To Fail tackles the economic crisis and releases today. Andrew will be a guest next week on ThinkTalk, where among other things, we will discuss collegiate background at Cornell. If you have questions for Andrew, make sure you get them in right away.

And since we're on the topic of journalism, and I promised to post bites from our National Book Festival show each day this week, here's our interview with PBS's Gwen Ifill. Enjoy!

"Malcolm Gladwell" courtesy schipulites via Flickr Creative Commons

Great Advice From Talented Writers at the 2009 National Book Festival

By Zack on October 19, 2009

One of my favorite recurring events at ThinkTalk is quickly becoming DC's annual National Book Festival. For a show (like our Blank Page) that aspires to secure advice for aspiring writers from well established writers there is hardly a better venue.

To give you a quick behind the scenes, basically we head over to the National Mall (about 5 blocks away from our studios) with a camera and a host. Then they just let us loose on the mall to collect words of wisdom from the 50 plus writers roaming the grounds, signing autographs, lecturing and seeking attention (just kidding on that last one). It's kinds of like an Old Country Buffet for the literary minded.

This year - taking a cue from our experience last year - we had a better strategy and were able to get a lot more interviews and cover a lot more ground ... which is good for everyone. We were able to score some advice and career tips from:

Novelists:

Non-Fiction Writers:

Cartoonist:

All in all, I pretty good score, I think. Now, there is a ton of useful and helpful advice packed into these bites. So, even though you can visit the National Book Festival 2009 page and watch them consecutively, we have also broken them up per author, so that you can browse around to the writers who pique your interest. Also, over the next few days, we'll post one of the interviews here, in the blog, so you can follow along here as well. Enjoy ... and hopefully you learn some great writing tips.

First up, Junot Diaz, the Pulitzer-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao:

Upcoming Guests: National Book Festival 2009

By Eve on September 11, 2009

Calling all aspiring writers! The National Book Festival is where you need to be on September 26, 2009.

Or, you can relax in your dorm room and let ThinkTalk do the legwork for you! The ThinkTalk staff is excited to announce that we will interview the successful authors at The National Book Festival.

This is our second year attending the event and we are eager to get some good advice for any of you looking to enter the publishing industry.

Founded in 2001 by Laura Bush, The National Book Festival is held annually on the National Mall and hosts over 70 popular and award-winning authors, illustrators, and poets. These writers discuss their works and are available for book signings.

The Festival, sponsored by the Library of Congress, is free and open to the public and has been known to attract over 120,000 attendees. At 2009’s festival, President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama will serve as Honorary Chairs.

Featured authors of the 2009 National Book Festival include:

  • John Grisham: John Grisham began his career as a lawyer, paving the way for him to become a successful legal thriller novelist. All of his novels have become international bestsellers and nine of them have been turned into feature films.
  • Nikki Grimes: Nikki Grimes began writing at the age of 6 and has yet to stop, this bestselling author has created award-winning stories and poems for children and young adults. She has done poetry readings around the world and also has created her own line of wearable-art jewelry.
  • Jodi Picoult: Picoult is a bestselling author of 15 novels, among many other awards, she has been awarded the New England Booksellers Award for Fiction and the lifetime achievement award for mainstream fiction from the Romance Writers of America. She has also had three of her novels turned into made for TV movies and one into a feature film.

Other authors at the festival include Nicholas Sparks, David Baldacci (both former ThinkTalk guests), James Patterson, Judy Blume, and George Pelecanos. For a full list of authors, poets and illustrators attending check out The National Book Festival’s website.

The National Book Festival will be held on September 26th. So make sure you get your questions in for these authors by Friday, September 25th.

Using Tech Skills to Supplement Your Career Development

By Zack on May 11, 2009

The journalism is in a precarious situation. Revenues and circulation are dropping for the print medium, while readership grows online. The problem: revenue isn't following readership to the web. There are no lack of opinions on what the future may hold (trust me on this, I just spent 3 months up to my eyeballs researching this very trend), but one incontrovertible truth is that the web will play a very significant role.

Yesterday, on technology blog Techcrunch, I noticed a post discussing J-School's calls for coders.

Some question whether a journalism degree is critical to success as a reporter. A talented programmer certainly doesn’t need a journalism background to create successful digital platforms. And journalism school may be irrelevant for programmers who are more interested in coding than writing.

One aspect of this that I find most important is that anymore you simply cannot afford to have zero grasp of the technology involved in your day to day career. I don't care if are in journalism, finance, business or anything, you have to have a firm grasp on the technological peripherals involved in that career.

Now, more than ever, it is easier to learn this information. When we decided to start a blog, none of us had any experience blogging daily. So we looked it up. I took some tutorials on html and did some background research. I'm I the most technologically informed person in this industry? Clearly not. But the more you know about the technology of your business, the more you can take advantage of it. I think it would behoove aspiring journalists to take advantage of some other classes on campus to pick up some of this knowledge and information. That and listen to our Blank Page interviews with some top journos ;)

If Journalism isn't your thing, don't worry, we've got plenty of useful advice for all careers in The Links ...

Lindsey Pollack Addresses: The benefits of membership in professional groups. "These organizations exist to support, educate and provide resources for professionals in a particular industry or profession. Some are really small and others are as huge as corporations. Some are full of young members and others could use some fresh faces. Some are super active and some only meet occasionally."

College Recruiters Suggest: Some resume add-ons. You want to make your resume stand out. Some non-conventional suggestions in the post include a head shot, short bio and even an elevator pitch.

GradSpot Reveals: How to get paid for taking notes: GradeGuru. "This genius site will pay you actual money for the notes you took in college and that you probably thought were just taking up space on your hard-drive for no other reason than to remind you that you once learned some stuff. But now, with GradGuru, you can upload them to the site and get a nice little payout for your efforts."

Cheezhead Contemplates: An alternative to the traditional job-board. "You see, times have changed. The Internet is now much more people focused, much more open. People/users demand more from Internet services and they want these services to be free. Any Internet service that is going to succeed in a massive way must focus on the benefits for its users, open its doors and let the people in. Job boards simply do not focus on their users." This is certainly something to think about.

The Chronicle of Higher Ed's Wired Campus Blog Reports: The University of Missouri's Journalism School will require students to purchase an Apple iPhone or iTouch for classes. Once you get past the whining about the price and mandatory aspect of this I have to say I think this is an excellent idea. I love to see schools (especially in the journalism industry) embracing the aid that technology plays in their field. These devices are becoming a mandatory tool for journalists, so why not students?

"No Technology in Brighton" courtesy Sammy0716 via Flickr's Creative Commons.

Tips for Aspiring Writers ... On the Go

By Zack on May 7, 2009

Nellie found a great link for today that I wanted to pass on to any aspiring writer's out there. Roy Peter Clark is a faculty member at the Poynter Institute - the acclaimed journalism institute - who has over 30 years of experience teaching writing.

Roy hosts a Podcast called Writing Tools that doles out essential advice on the craft of writing. I would highly recommend that any journalism or writing student in general take a listen and consider adding it to your rotation of podcasts. For more writing tips, make sure you check out all our great interviews with writers at The Blank Page. Like this one from Coraline writer Neil Gaiman:

Let's get on with The Links ...

Secrets of the Job Hunt Explains: Targeted Marketing to help your job hunt. "Successful job seekers are sending their cover letters and resumes to a targeted audience of key people who make hiring decisions in these targeted employers of choice. This method of job searching is called targeted marketing. They are marketing themselves to targeted companies that employ people like them, and to people within those targeted companies who make hiring decisions." The post has great advice on maximizing your chances of getting a job by getting your resume in the hands of the right people.

Fistful of Talent Has: Some more advice on Targeted Marketing that will get your resume past the "delete this email" phase. The information flow at my desk is overwhelming. Resume review, daily updates to search dashboards, uploading data to our ever expanding database, industry RSS feeds and on and on and on. I am sure I am not alone here. To get thru each day, you must make every second count. If the content does not stand out - I will not waste many cycles on it.

On the job Blog Discusses: What your potential employers are seeing during the interview. Anita Bruzzese's advice: get professional shoes, comb your hair, sit up straight, and get rid of your backpack. Everyone may not think of that last one, but I agree ... shed the college image and prove that you are ready for the pros.

Lindsey Pollack Offers: Advice for adjusting to life back with mom and dad ... you know, just in case the job search isn't going too well. "I lived at home for a few months after graduate school and, frankly, I didn’t handle it very well. I spent a lot of time sulking in my childhood bedroom-heart-design wallpaper, prom photos and all-and fell into an “I’m a failure” funk. Eventually, I set up some networking lunches, had a few sessions with a career counselor and landed a job and an apartment on my own." Lindsey then offers some insight into how she could have handled the transition a bit better.

Revive Your Mind with Intellectual Devotional Author David S Kidder

By Zack on December 23, 2008

Each morning, before I eat, before I shower, before I check my email, I take 5 minutes for mental exercise. On a good day I consume an enormous amount of information; my RSS feeders are jam-packed (that’s right. Plural. I have two – a personal and a professional), I scour the websites of the Post and Times, research guests, ideas and links for the blog, and at the end of the day, sit down with a challenging book. Therefore, I think it is important to get the brain functioning before I begin this informational intake.

I have found that the best way to prepare myself is to start the day with a little light reading to stimulate the brain and get the gears moving. Last Christmas while searching for gifts, I stumbled across The Intellectual Devotional: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education, and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class. Interesting, I thought. After all, I am all about roaming confidently.

The book features 365 lessons (one per day) from seven different fields of knowledge. I wasn’t sure if this would be something I would return to daily, or one of the number of fads I get all excited about initially, only to lose interest quickly (like exercise). But I found the book captivating. The topics are simple and usually feature a concept, event, or person I had at least vague familiarity with beforehand. For instance, today's entry - Tuesdays feature Literature - gave a brief description of the 19th century Romantic Movement. I was familiar with this topic, but it was refreshing to read a short, focused description without dwelling on the academic repercussions of the movement . . . as one would in a literature, art or history course. Now, as the year winds down, and I am running out of lessons, I am hopeful there will be future Devotionals to help me start my day off. Oh, but there is.. . .

Anyway, I think the Intellectual Devotional is a great way to start your day and get your mind working. It makes a great Holiday gift, and as a New York Times bestseller, turned out to be a great entrepreneurial idea as well.

The success of the book and the release of the new Modern Culture Edition, were two great excuses to have co-author David Kidder on The Blank Page. David is an entrepreneur by nature, with a wide range of success – mainly in online advertising. David discusses the idea for this project, his transition to the print world, and the benefits of working for yourself. My favorite bite came when I asked David to pass along information for aspiring entrepreneurs.

I think that people don’t realize the opportunity cost of not doing what your calling is. When you do something that you are passionate about, when you do something that creates a lot of cultural value, the economics will come. And so my unsolicited advice is don’t underrate your skills, your talents and your contributions. I think you should follow it.

To see the high quality version of the complete interview, visit Daivd Kidder’s show page. Or, watch his YouTube AdviceByte below.

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