WordCountMichelle V. Rafter

The luck of the Irish wasn’t just luck

Michelle V. Rafter — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:31:18 +0000

The luck of the Irish – a nice saying with implications that good things just happen to some people.

But the Irish weren’t lucky. They were broke. A potato famine cost millions their livelihoods – and many their lives. Scores left their homeland forever to find work and a better life. Once they landed wherever they landed they endured grinding poverty and prejudice. Luck had nothing to do with the lives they built for themselves and the generations of descendant who followed.

So on this day when we honor St. Patrick and everybody’s feeling a little Irish, think about the luck you make for yourself.

Was it luck that you landed a great assignment, the one that will make this year better than last, or the result of years of hard work perfecting what you do?

Was it luck that the editor interviews you flew to New York to do turned out so well, or the result of research on those publications you did beforehand and the preparations you went through on what you were going to say?

Was it luck that your blog traffic is growing bigger every month, or the result of the hard work you’ve been doing to get it there?

Was it luck that when you lost your staff reporter job you didn’t just land on your feet, you created a business, one that let’s you do what you love to do and pay the bills?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day – may the luck of the Irish – the luck you make for yourself – be with you always.

How to pick a topic for a blog

Michelle V. Rafter — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:23:53 +0000

With all the changes happening in the media business, freelancers are likely to have heard the advice to start a blog as a way to keep up with the times and enhance their versatility as writers. If you’re interested in going after paid blogging gigs, having a blog can show potential customers you know the territory.

But it’s one thing to resolve to start blogging, and another to decide what to blog about.

Many writers hit on a blog topic right away. Some have had an idea rolling around in their heads for a while. Others have a book in the works – or at least a book proposal – and have heard the drill about a blog being a good platform for book promotion.

But what if none of those scenarios describes you. How should you decide what to blog about? Here are a few ideas:

Write about what you know. Think of the areas you specialize in as a writer. Is there one nook or cranny of your work you’d like to explore further? If you blog on the same topic you write about, the leftover bits and pieces of research you’re done for stories can serve as starting points for blog posts, a nifty time saver.

Write about what you want to know better. Some writers use a blog to research areas they want to learn about to better develop pitches for magazine, newspaper or website stories. I did this myself when I came back to freelancing two years ago after a long hiatus and needed to get up to speed on what had been happening in the tech and media business while I was away. After researching topics like podcasting and content aggregators for blog posts, I successfully pitched stories on the subjects to publications I’d started writing for.

Write about a popular topic. Some writers use blogs as revenue-generators rather than just for marketing or research. If you’re counting on income from advertising networks such as Google AdSense or BlogHer, or from selling e-books, online courses or other products and services you want to maximize the traffic coming to your blog. The best way to do that is to pick a topic with broad appeal to draw in as many people as possible. The more people who visit, the higher your page views and the more you’ll make from ad networks, or the greater the likelihood you’ll sell products.

Consider how much you like a topic. Good bloggers post on a regular basis – daily, weekly, multiple times a day – as a way to keep readers coming back for more. To post consistently you need a topic you’re passionate about v. a topic you feel like you’ve already done to death in your other writing. There’ll be days you won’t want to post and if you’re already in a love-hate relationship with your subject matter, it’ll make it that much harder to muster up the energy to blog.

Find a niche that’s not too crowded. You don’t want to be the 20th or 200th blogger writing about parenting toddlers, backyard gardening or U.S. politics. If you are, it’ll that much harder to come up with interesting new takes on the subject, and to get your posts to show up high in search engine rankings. On the other hand…

Find a niche with a few well-known blogs. ….You don’t want to be the only person on earth blogging on about high school wrestling in Arizona or outsourcing for small businesses. It’s nice to have a couple other blogs related to whatever it is you’re blogging about so you can form a loose affiliation of bloggers who can function as each others’ cheerleaders, guest posters and sounding boards. If a couple of these are also high profile blogs run by magazines or newspapers all the better for you – they could notice you and link to your blog, which will increase traffic. Or you could become a frequent commenter and end up being invited to write guest posts.

Avoid the ‘random musings’ blog. It’s OK to use a blog as a journal or diary, something you do more for yourself than the general public. But if you’re blogging and you want the world to know – and come visit – it helps to let people know what to expect. That means avoiding what I call the “random musings” blog, where one day you write about your struggle with writer’s block, the next your vacation to Whistler, and the next a great recipe you discovered for skirt steak. One successful writer/blogger solved this problem by splitting the different subjects he was interested in writing about into their own blogs. Now his main website links out to each blog, so if readers want to track his cooking blog, they can subscribe only to that one, and readers following his other blogs can do likewise.

If you’re a writer who blogs how did you decide on a topic to blog about?

The Oscars and writing: Meryl Streep is a good picker, and you can be too

Michelle V. Rafter — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:59:43 +0000

Meryl Street didn’t win an Academy Award for her spot-on portrayal of Julie Child in Julie & Julia. But her performance in the 2009 film marked the 16th time she’s been nominated for the prize.

I’m convinced the reason Streep’s been recognized so many times is because she’s a good picker.

By picker I mean Streep has a good feel for what roles would be right for her, overall and at that particular point in her career. My hunch is she takes into account the script, director, producers backing the picture, amount of time she’ll need to invest in the project, and finally, the money. Whether she’s got a good agent or just a keen sense of what works well for her, it’s made her career.

On Sunday night, Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for her portrayal of a take-charge mom who brought a homeless black teenager into her Southern white family in The Blind Side. Bullock’s a good actress too. Whether she’s on par with Streep is a subject for a different blog post. But Bullock’s been in lots of interesting, if not heavyweight films over the years. She’s also been in a lot of dogs: to wit, she’s the only actress ever to win an Oscar and a Razzie (for All About Steve) in the same year.

It’s taken the actress they call America’s Sweetheart this long to grab the golden statue because she isn’t as good a picker as someone like Streep.

So what does this have to do with writers?

Writers, like Streep, Bullock and other creative types, are only as good as the projects we pick.

Pick a stimulating assignment that pushes you beyond what you thought yourself capable of doing and you wind up improving your writing, your portfolio and your chances of that higher profile publication saying “Yes” the next time you query.

Pick something easy you’ve done over and over again, and you don’t grow.

Pick a publisher that pays peanuts, pays in exposure or can’t or won’t pay at all, and you end up frustrated, and quite possibly, broke.

Figuring out what projects to pursue is something some writers are naturally great at. Others are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Still others have to work long and hard to figure out the process.

If you’re someone who innately knows what projects are right for any particular place and time, hooray for you – I’ve love to hear how you go through that decision-making process.

If you’re not, here are some things to think about the next time an opportunity comes your way or when you’re thinking about which assignment you want to do next. Call them the 5 Ps of Picking a Project:

1. The project – Am I excited to do this? How much time and effort will it take? Does it fit into my writing specialty? Is it an area people are interested in, one that I could make into a new specialty? Do I already have sources I could talk to who know the subject? If not, how easy would it be to find them? Will I have to travel? If so, how much time will it take me away from other projects?

2. The people – Have I worked with the editor or staff before? If so, are they easy to work with or overly demanding, demeaning or rude? Do they make a story better or edit in mistakes? Are they quick to answer emails or phone calls?

3. The publication – Is it a magazine, website, newspaper, company I want to be affiliated with? What kind of reputation do they have? What kind of financial situation are they in: on the way up or down? How do they treat their writers?

4. The pay – Is the compensation worth the number of hours I need to put into the project to do it justice? What rights are involved? Are expenses included? Is it pay on acceptance or publication? If it’s low paying, can I reuse the research and pitch a different story to a different publication? Could it lead to more work or a contract or retainer position?

5. The big picture – How does this fit into my goals for my writing business this year? For my career? Could it lead to more lucrative work? Is it something I’ll be proud of? Can I squeeze this in without sacrificing projects I’m already committed to? How does this fit into my non-work life?

Nobody’s criteria for choosing project is exactly the same. But by going through a well-reasoned thought process you could end up like Meryl Streep, a perennial winner.

Guest post: Up close and personal, writing first-person profiles

Michelle V. Rafter — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:00:55 +0000

Today’s post is written by Pat Olsen, a long-time New Jersey freelance writer who specializes in business and health.

When I interviewed professional skateboarder Tony Hawk for The New York Times, he said he loved skateboarding so much he’d do it even if he wasn’t getting paid.

That’s almost the way I feel about writing first-person profiles.

First-person profiles are stories or columns I report as usual but write in first person rather than in third person, as if I’m the person I’m writing about. I write first-person columns for two magazines and am a lead contributor for two in the Times.

It’s challenging trying to capture someone else’s voice, to find a flow in what they’ve said, and perhaps uncover a theme.

Doing first-person profiles isn’t a matter of simply recording what someone says and transcribing it. If that were the case, I might write, “Well, um, let’s see, when I was 10 − no, make that 12 — I delivered newspapers up and down the street. They were pretty heavy.”

You might want to write exactly the way someone speaks if you’re writing a novel, but not if you’re writing a profile. People often speak too casually for these types of pieces. For a profile, I take that stream of consciousness and make it coherent and interesting. It’s not easy, but this type of writing just feels right to me and usually once I’m happy with a piece, others are, too.

If you’re interested in writing first-person profiles, the first thing to do is unlock the stories inside the person you’re writing about. Everyone has stories. The key to finding them is getting the person to talk about the anecdotes, trips, jobs or other events that bring their life into focus.

When I wrote about Peter Wilson’s career change from public relations to teaching, the key to getting him to open up was asking what he missed about his former job. When I wrote about Ray Harris, vice chairman of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, I used his recollection about getting started in the securities industry to tell his story.

Here are a few other tips I’ve picked up after years of practice:

It may take more than one interview to get someone to dig deeper. One of my first editors made me re-interview someone not once but twice to get enough details to be satisfied with what I’d written. Initially I considered it a failure not to “get it right the first time.” Since then, I’ve realized that it takes until the second or third interview for some people to open up. Most top executives are media-savvy: once they read a sample of the type of article they’re being interviewed for they know what to do. But many people who don’t give interviews all the time may not be reflective enough the first time. Drawing their thoughts out of them could take several conversations.

Ask the same question different ways. This technique is old hat to journalists, but still works. If you try it and still aren’t getting what you need, give the person an example of what you’re looking for. If someone’s having trouble coming up with good details of a trip they took, I might say, “In another profile I wrote, the person talked about almost missing his plane because a herd of cows crossing in front of his taxi took forever to reach the other side of the road.” That kind of prompting usually helps.

I always let profiles sit, even if it’s just overnight. I need to read them with a fresh eye to be able to improve them.

First-person profiles are my favorite things to write so on one hand, they’re easy. But that doesn’t mean they’re not hard work.

Help choose writing conference topics for ONA10

Michelle V. Rafter — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:06:35 +0000

The Online New s Association is staying true to the times and asking journalists – including freelancers – to help them choose topics for sessions at its annual conference, ONA10, which takes place Oct. 28-30 in Washington D.C. The best part – you don’t need to be an ONA member to have a say.

ONA is the largest professional organization for reporters, editors and other journalists working primarily in digital media, whether on staff for newspapers or magazines or for themselves as freelancers, bloggers or entrepreneurs. Based in Washington D.C., ONA has regional chapters around the country and in recent years has started several international outposts.

The ONA recently asked members to submit proposals for conference sessions. Suggestions poured in, including proposed sessions on teaching writers how to code – and computers how to write – building nonprofit news ventures and thriving as a journalist entrepreneur.

Now the organization’s crowding, asking anyone and everyone interested to vote on which of the 118 proposed topics they’d like to see at the conference. To vote, go to the Session Selector page, and create an account. Each proposed topic comes with a brief explanation, and you can see who the presenters would be. You can give a thumbs up to select as many as you like.

Although it’s still months away, it’s not too early to start thinking about attending ONA 2010. Last year’s conference in San Francisco was a sell out, with guest speakers such as Twitter’s Ev Williams and BlogHer’s Lisa Stone, and close to 750 professional and student journalist in attendance.

For more information on the ONA 2010 conference visit the main registration page. Get conference updates on Twitter at @ONA10 and track conversations at #ONA10.

WordCount joins the BlogHer ad network

Michelle V. Rafter — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:00:38 +0000

Notice anything different?

If you’re looking at this on a reader, you won’t be able to tell.

But if you’re reading this on my blog, it should be obvious something’s changed.

As of today, I’ve joined the BlogHer ad network. You can tell by the ad in the far right-hand column. In the future you may see a second small BlogHer ad here as well.

After two-plus years of blogging purely to keep up with the times and share a career’s worth of accumulated wisdom about writing, journalism and freelancing, I was ready to explore turning my little enterprise from a nonprofit to a money-making venture – to develop an alternative revenue stream as they say.

When it comes to ad networks, bloggers have a lot of options.

BlogHer wasn’t an obvious choice for me. Although I’m a mom and a blogger, I’m not a mommy blogger, a fact that kept me from investigating BlogHer and similar networks for some time.

But when I did, I found a lot of compelling reasons to join. The BlogHer network has 2,500 bloggers, not a huge number, which gives WordCount a chance to stand out. There aren’t a lot of other BlogHer blogs covering freelancing or the media business, another opportunity for me to shine. BlogHer has grown beyond its initial mommy blogger roots: the company recently announced an initiative with The White House Project to get more women to run for office in 2010. With more than 20 million unique visitors a month, it’s getting noticed: BusinessWeek included the Belmont, California company in its February 2010 list of America’s Most Promising Startups. Writing in Forbes, in November 2009, CBS anchor Katie Couric included BlogHer cofounders Lisa Stone, Jory Des Jardins and Elisa Camahort Page in a list of the most powerful people in new media.

I also picked BlogHer because it maintains a newspaper-type editorial code when it comes to bloggers accepting free gifts and junkets. At a time when many bloggers think it’s OK to take free stuff and write positive things about the companies that gave it to them – with or without acknowledging the relationship – I appreciate that BlogHer holds contributors to a higher standard. You can read the entire editorial policy here.

Have I sold out? You could say that. Am I OK with it? It took me a while, but yes, I am. Do I expect to make lots of money? Not at first. I see it as the latest step on my journey as an journalist entrepreneur.

Good intentions: writing with purpose

Michelle V. Rafter — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:33:59 +0000

Valerie is an instructor at the gym I belong to.

Calling her an instructor is a bit of an understatement.

She’s more like a drill sergeant in a leotard.

Valerie is strong, motivated and incredibly good at what she does. So good people willingly get up at an ungodly hour to make her 5:45 a.m. class. So good, she was recently honored as the 20,000-member club’s instructor of the year.

What makes her so good? She’s a big believer in intention, being in the moment and putting maximum effort into whatever she’s doing right then and there to get the best results. It shows in every crunch and lunge she does in class, in the sweat that pours from her face, and the muscles that grace her frame, the ones everyone who takes her class covet.

In fact, Valerie believes in intention so much she had the word tattooed around her arm.

There are lots of similarities between working out and writing.

In writing, as in exercising, you get out only as much as you put in. Take a half-baked approach to an interview, a story or a rewrite and you end up with dull quotes, a boring read and poorly executed revisions.

But put intention into what you’re doing and you end up improving your writing – and I’d wager your relationship with the publications you work with as well.

You’re going to sit in front of a computer for hours a day writing or editing anyway, why not do it with intention. Come up with a list of the things you need to do that day and focus your energy on executing them, one after the other.

You could be amazed with the results.