The following article can be found at WritersOnLine.Com
Building a Clip
File
by H. P. Barrett III
Same
old story: I left behind a solid job, much of my family and many
friends, not to mention what I thought was left of my
sanity, to "get away" and work on my literary novel
masterpiece.
It sounded good at the time, but after three
months, reality and bills began to gather like storm clouds on the
all-too-near horizon. I needed to work. I needed to write. I needed
to live!
After 25 years of business- and public
relations-writing, and various broadcast and print journalism
endeavors, I felt certain that I could create an income by general
freelance writing more or less full-time on the side. But even with
my experience, that was not as easy as it might seem. In the
freelance writing business, clips and contacts count for a lot, and
surprisingly I had kept precious few of either. I was a thousand
miles away from home and didn't know where to begin.
After
the magazine queries that were slow to develop, I called area
newspapers to pitch a few local interest feature stories. Nothing.
They all had staff writers, and those with job openings wanted me to
work full-time, which I was not yet willing to do. My novel, the
research and the writing had to come first.
A funny thing
happened on the way to the poor house: the phone rang. It was an
editor of a local newspaper who asked if I would be willing to cover
an education council special meeting on a Sunday afternoon. It was
less than ten miles from my townhouse, and although it didn't pay
much, it was a beginning. I took the assignment.
Within the
month I was picking up four or five stories a week, and just a few
letters and phone calls later, I had other local editors interested
and actually calling me. No single assignment took over three hours
to cover and write, and all were scheduled during the evening hours.
My days remained free.
I generally covered news and events in
towns and communities close to where I lived. I would then return
home to write and either email or fax the story to the newspaper
from my own computer. This saved me valuable time that I would have
spent driving to the newsroom, and kept me from having to push
deadlines by struggling with the paper's quirky computer system that
I did not fully understand.
Seemingly overnight, I had a book
full of clips and more resources than I thought possible -- which
proved to be even more profitable when sent later to magazine
editors with article ideas. Yes, I could write on politics,
education, religion, and even on ecology and science.
I told
this story to a group of young and new writers at a recent writer's
conference, and frankly I am surprised at the results. I've kept in
touch with several who attempted to duplicate this strategy, and
everyone seems pleased with his or her level of success thus far.
Of note: Not one of us, myself included, ever sent a full
résumé to a newspaper. Not applying for full-time staff writing
positions, we were only seeking occasional freelance assignments.
Using phone calls, letters, and email to pitch article ideas to
editors and to remind them of our abilities and availability paid
off in the long run. Tenacity counts.
The bottom line:
Develop contacts and relationships with your local newspaper
editors. Remember: they are very busy people, usually on deadline,
so don't be a pest. A quick, to-the-point, introductory phone call
followed up by an email or fax restating your interest in writing
for that publication, along with a statement of your credentials
and/or experience will usually suffice. Be sure to include all
contact phone numbers, email addresses and best times to call in
case of a "breaking story."
Be flexible: When possible,
accept anything that may come your way. Write as best you can and
constantly be attentive to press deadlines, especially with the
dailies. And for heaven's sake, don't be a prima donna. Expect your
lead to be rewritten and the body copy to be edited for style,
content and space.
Pick up a copy of any standard stylebook
(ask your editor which they prefer) and purchase at least one
current book title dealing with newswriting. There are many great
ones available through Writer's Digest and writing
websites.
Caution and advice: You'll save yourself and your
editor a lot of grief if you can get to the library and read a
month's worth of newspapers. This will familiarize you with not only
the story you'll be covering, but also with style pointers that will
speed up your writing. Especially for the dailies, you will not have
a lot of time to write a story following a night meeting -- and
missing a deadline is never an option. You might as well write your
own obituary if you fail in your accepted obligation to your
editor.
Newspapers are a great way to break into print if
you're patient, market-smart, and news-savvy. In a short time you'll
build not only a portfolio of writings, but a wealth of experience
and the knowledge that you can write all most anything at any time
for anyone.
Most important: Save your clips with an eye
toward the subject, not toward the story. This will help you develop
related article and story ideas and add weight to queries sent to
much larger and better-paying markets.
--
HPB
©2000 H.P. Barrett III
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