A Writing Class for Your Consideration
From the fall course schedule for the Poets and Writers League of Greater Cleveland (click here and scroll down to the bottom. But don't forget to check out the other offerings too):
Editors Steve Gleydura from Cleveland Magazine and Sarah Sphar of Northern Ohio Live have teamed up with award-winning journalist and writer John Ettorre to offer this three-session course on the fundamentals of writing for a living. While regional magazine editors provide insight and instruction on how and why they go about choosing free-lancers and on becoming an “expert” on food, business, arts, education, and other magazine fodder, the veteran writer instructs practical skills such as leveraging the Internet, how and where to pitch articles, meeting the deadline, and the value of awards and professional affiliations.
Segments 1 & 2, taught by Sarah Sphar and John Ettorre, respectively, are offered Tuesdays at the Northern Ohio Live (2026 Murray Hill Road #103, Cleveland, 44106), October 16 & 23, 6:30-8:30pm. Segment 3, taught by Steve Gleydura, will be held Tuesday, November 6 (location TBD), 6:30-8:30pm.
$95 for Members
$115 for Nonmembers.
Hope at least some of you will be able to join us for this. It's a good chance to hear first-hand from two area magazine editors how to go about writing for their audiences. I'll try to add what might be called the less sugar-coated perspective about magazine writing.
3 Comments:
John, I imagine your "less sugar-coated perspective" to be something like this:
"You're not going to get rich doing this. Sources won't call you back. The deadlines will be next to impossible. Your copy will be edited beyond all recognition. And your fee? The one that sounded good BEFORE you took the assignment? Yeah, it won't seem that way afterward."
Let me know if you want me to write you up a syllabus or anything...
Something like all that, Scott. Only my philosophy in the writing wars is to always be on the offensive (which involves both lots of market intelligence and old-fashioned people skills), and to NEVER to look at things from the glass half empty perspective. Finally, anyone whose work is edited beyond all recognition is either A). a raw rookie, who perhaps needed lots of editing, and thus was lucky to get the assignment in the first place, or B). someone who needs to find a new outlet and a new editor to work with, who will treat it as a collaborative exercise rather than a parent-child dynamic.
Lordy lordy lordy look at the pot calling the kettle black. You play holier than thou and attack others like a mean spirited pitbull for commercialism. Guess you can't resist some crass commercialism yourself
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