7 Useful Tips for Writing During the Time of COVID-19
In my previous column, I wrote about freeing up our creativity while self-isolating. This one will deal with what happens when we’ve managed to complete that much-longed-for first draft.
Imagine your name IS NOT Steve. Or Martha. Imagine you are the editor of a prestigious publication. And now imagine a freelance writer submitting a piece addressed to Editor-in-Chief Steve. Or Martha.
Yeah. You, aspiring writer, cocked up big time.
I once worked for an arts company as a project manager. One of my jobs was to run publicity campaigns and ring up newspapers editors to ask them to send reporters to our private views and launches. Very early on I learnt that marketing itself was a kind of art. If you wanted to be successful you had to be as creative as the artist whose work you were promoting. For me at the time this meant scrutinising press releases in order to find out who the PR person was.
Pitch to the right person, if possible. Phone up the newspaper or magazine and ask who to send your work to. Spell their name(s) and surname(s) right. Gender is a tricky area. Sometimes you can’t tell whether it’s a man or a woman you are addressing. Stick to Dear Editor if in doubt. Or just pick up the phone and call the main desk.
If you’re taking part in a competition, read the guidelines. Why would you submit a 1500-word sci-fi piece if the contest is for rom-coms writers?
I mentioned luck in my previous post. That happens once in a blue moon. My first articles in the UK were for a magazine that catered mainly to the Latin American community. I got paid peanuts (and late, but that’s another story), however this taught me a valuable lesson: a little bit of experience is better than none.
Also, non-paid or low-paid work still gets assessed on literary merit or lack thereof. For me this has always been essential as I do most of my writing in English. Regardless of my linguistic proficiency in the language, I know that there are still lacunas in it. Any support to improve weak areas is always welcome.
Timelines are useful. Sometimes growing an audience works out better financially in the long term than trying to hit the jackpot straight away. Blogging is a good way of starting slowly and surely. Treat each post as a draft. Moreover, with so many COVID-19-affected people locking themselves indoors and turning their attention to online content, there will be no shortage of feedback on your pieces.
Once you have accumulated a solid and high-quality body of work, use it as investment capital. After all, that’s exactly what you’ve done: invested hours in creating content that will either find a house in a publication or help you promote future pieces,
Last but not least. Create a folder with all your submissions. Name and date them and insert a note to yourself reminding you which publication or competition you sent them to. I once submitted the same piece twice to the same publication two years in a row. Same competition. Same result: I wasn’t accepted.
I hope you found these tips useful. There will be more “Writer on Writing” posts, plus discussions on the nature of writing itself. Until then, happy (self-isolation) writing!
© 2020
