The Dratted Blank Page

There is always that point in a manuscript that is extremely difficult to write. It’s called the first sentence.

I’m certainly not alone in the phenomenon lovingly known as “staring at the blank page,” and which is frequently accompanied by nervous eye-twitching, drinking of several cups of tea, re-reading other people’s blogs, writing blog entries of your own, and calculating the hours until deadline.

Eventually, somehow, that first sentence appears and the road ahead gets easier.

I always have that “aha” moment, that second in which everything shifts and I’m totally absorbed in the manuscript, oblivious to how many words I’ve written and how much more I have to go. That’s when I know that I’ll get this done, that this won’t be the end of my career just yet.

I haven’t quite figured out yet how to make that jump between the blank page and the moment when it all fits go smoother (and quicker!) I’ve written a couple hundred articles, somehow manage to meet all my deadlines, and yet, still, every time that dreaded blank page opens up, something stresses me out.

I’ve read this is the sign of the perfectionist– not wanting to write anything unless its absolutely flawless, even though you know that the more you wait the less perfect it’s actually going to be (and when does anything turn out perfect anyway?). Eventually, all said and done, you promise yourself you’ll give yourself more time next time around, that you’ll start way ahead of deadline, that you won’t let the blank page intimidate you. And then the new assignment rolls around, you wait until the last possible minute, and the process repeats itself.

How do you deal with your blank pages? Do you get excited about the prospect of filling it, or do you dread sitting at your desk each morning for fear of what you’ll produce?

The Grunt Work, Up Front

There is a method to this madness, I keep telling myself, as I wade through dozens of pages of research that I’ve collected. It’s always the same routine. I’ve over researched the topic, and I’m still at the idea/query stage.

I shared the pitch that landed me my first assignment with Ms. magazine on a writer’s message board a few weeks ago, and a friend asked if I really put all that effort into researching every single query?

Well, it depends.

The article I wrote for Ms. was about sex education in India (several states had banned sex education saying it was against Indian culture) and how the lack of it is sending kids straight to the Internet. The information they are going to find there is going to prove detrimental, I wrote. But education is just the first step. Access to contraceptives is a whole other battle. And then I went on to talk about how unmarried women who try to buy contraceptives or get sex advice from their doctors are treated with disrespect. I had already spoken to one woman who had sounded off about her experience and I mentioned her.

This is not news to anyone who has been in India for more than two weeks, and it is a topic I write about frequently. The query probably took about fifteen minutes to write and send out. I’d recently been interviewed on the subject, so I didn’t even have to look it up.

Other pitches aren’t always so straightforward. The thing is, before you can pitch a story, you have to know that there is a story to write and that there are people who will speak with you about it. That takes some work.

Of course, how much work you have to put in a story upfront really depends on the kind of subject you’re tackling, but let’s say you’re writing about a cool trend that would appeal to a women’s magazine. Well, the first thing you know you’re going to have to answer is, how do you know it’s a trend? Do you have numbers? Off you go to find them. Typically, I don’t do interviews before I’ve been handed an assignment, but I’ve now learned that it may be wise to do so when dealing with sensitive subjects. When writing about virginity restoration, with a deadline of a week, I got very close to losing my mind when trying to find a woman to talk on record. So if it’s a sensitive subject, off you go to find interviewees. If it’s a project, will the people running it speak with you?

I’ll typically also run a Google search to see what, if anything, has been previously written about the topic. All this takes an hour or two at most, and I’m ready to answer most of the questions the editor has about the subject and how I’m planning to report on it.

When I invest time and energy in an idea, more than an editor, I want to be convinced that I’m not on some wild goose chase and that there is a story there that I’m interested in. By the time I’m done researching it, I’m usually excited and ready to go. The query all but writes itself.

Usually, the article does too. But without a solid idea and a solid pitch, there’s always the chance that the piece will fall apart when you actually go off to report.

How much work do you put in your pitches? Do you wait for the go-ahead from the editor to do the primary reporting or are you so sure of selling your piece that you don’t mind putting in some extra work up-front?

Global Shlobal

When it comes to content, only “English-speaking countries” are king, whatever the heck that means. Don’t ask me, ask Helium. The company, which recently changed its policy regarding non-US contributions, gave the following explanation after they ejected most Indian writers from their website:

Since our goal is to become the top-quality content site on the web, we realize that, as a US-based company, we cannot accept writers from countries where English is not the primary language.

Because we all know that every US citizen speaks and writes in better English than every Indian citizen.

(But… but… please Helium? I’ve studied English since I was five years old. Won’t you pay me pennies per click for all those years of effort? I is write well, I promise!)

But it’s not just Helium that thinks demonizing Indians, regardless of their caliber of writing, is fun. For kicks, The New Haven Advocate hired unsuspecting professional Indian journalists (one sucker actually had the galls to demand $1 per word!) and published their content with a “Made in India” stamp. I’m guessing that wasn’t meant as a compliment.

As Suneetha B says, “I get the frustration they have over their jobs shipped overseas and their rightful reaction and objection to this. But was there a need to ridicule a group of professionals who do the same job as they do, just because they live in another country with a different economy and currency conversion values?”

Here’s an idea: instead of targeting people who have no control over what these companies do and are simply trying to make a living, why don’t you go have a conversation with the people who actually make these decisions. You know, like, er, the management?

In the meantime, please go ahead and get your jollies by ranting against Indian writers. Because everyone knows Indians as an entire nation of people aren’t professionals and don’t deserve to be treated that way.

It’s Not That Hard

If spotting a gecko brings good luck, as is believed around some of these parts, then I’m in for a treat. I woke up this morning with one on my arm.

A question I’ve been asked repeatedly since I arrived from Berkeley, and that I don’t know how to accurately answer, is what I learned there and how it’s going to change what I do. The simple answer is: it isn’t.

I gave up a dream opportunity in order to go to Berkeley, and so I’m asked often if I regret that. I don’t. But, let’s be honest, if that opportunity never falls into my lap again, I will mourn it.

I surprised many when I said I was going to return to India and continue freelancing, because given the opportunity to work with some great publications in America, why on earth would someone not take it?

Maybe that’s because many consider freelancing journalism’s stepchild. Maybe because some consider working in India less of an opportunity than working in America. I don’t. Clearly.

The Visiting Scholar experience was different for each one of us. One VS who is interested in business reporting got the chance to travel to New York City and meet editors from the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, etc. Another has become experienced in broadcast, one is now shifting course from writing to photography, yet another is now fully trained in multimedia.

I don’t think the way I work or approach journalism has changed at all. If anything, for me it was reinforcement of what I’ve doing all along, and thankfully, been doing right. What I did take away from my experience in Berkeley was something that will help me much more in the long-term: a look into many different worldviews.

Every week, as we discussed events in the news, we got to hear many different points of views, of people from China, Burma, Pakistan, Iran, Finland, France, Indonesia, Denmark, and India. People who’ve spent their entire lives studying certain countries– North Korea and Japan, for instance — came and spoke to us. In North Korea’s case, it went much beyond what we find in news reports and has deeply contributed to my understanding of the current situation.

It’s not hard to learn how to take a decent photograph or shoot video, and I am, indeed self-taught (and I keep learning), but it is of immense help when journalists take you behind their stories and talk to you not only about how they found them and reported them, but how they then handled the fallout from them: lawsuits, arrested sources, etc.

In addition to all that, the biggest thing I found in Berkeley was confidence. Or as Sam likes to say, “It’s not that hard!”

That’s the most important thing I learned in Berkeley: It’s not that hard.

To me, that lesson makes the entire year and any dream opportunities I gave up, worth it.

What I’m Up To

I have a few articles in print this week. One’s part of the cover story in The Writer magazine that talks about how to add to your income in this economy. The article will be online later, but you can find it in the July print issue for now.

A piece that is available online takes a look at the US educational system, and is titled, “Worlds Apart: How the Educational System is Failing to Prepare US Youth to be Competitive in the Global Economy.”

If you’re in India, get your hands on a wonderful new publication called The Caravan. The current issue carries my piece on the recent trend of Indian-Americans returning to India for better opportunities.

I’m striking off deadlines on a daily basis. Because I’m currently a marketing machine, I have three articles due this week and two the next. Part of what I’m hoping to do for the remainder of the year is work on writing faster. I’m painfully slow, even without the procrastination and over-rewriting, so I’m trying to boost my speed without losing quality.

The three deadlines a week thing really does help.

Moving In

There are still unpacked boxes in the corner. The Internet, well, it’s a bit dodgy. But I do, for the very first time have my own little space away from the world– my new office.

Two globes (I love and collect globes) sit on my desk. One, a tiny glass model that my parents owned for years; the other, a gift from my mother to help me choose my next destination (and because I’m really bad at geography). I have a small treasure chest made of sandalwood, and a mini-Buddha, whose tummy I routinely rub for good luck.

For the first time in years, I have a dedicated landline (I largely dislike cellphones, unless they’re iPhones), a bed for those nights that I will no doubt be spending here, and a beautiful bamboo chair for reading in. My parents have, along with everything else that they’ve done, bought me lovely brown curtains and given me a desk they had custom-made years ago that I have loved since I was a child.

My books finally have a home.

After almost seven years of working out of my bed, I’m thrilled, excited, and a little bit giddy at having an exclusive space for work. Ever since I became a journalist, I’ve worked out of (and lived in) spaces that barely had room for two people to stand in, let alone a desk and a workspace, so my current situation seems like extravagance.

I’m so grateful. And at long last, out of excuses for procrastination.