Pots. That Boil. Or Not.

Why does a watched pot never boil?

Because, you know, I think it should. Especially when the pot is actually your Inbox, and the boiling is the idea your editor promised she would either assign or reject today.

That’s all.

Indemnification Clause

If you haven’t noticed already, the Panties and Principles blog no longer exists.

I told you why I wanted to work with True/Slant, so it’s only fair that I tell you why I’m walking away.

It’s called the indemnification clause. Look for it in your contracts, and if you find it, learn what it is and what that means for you.

I’m a business-person, so I get to make my own rules. One of them is to not sign an indemnification clause. So I didn’t.

You’ll just have to put up with my rants on this blog, after all.

Finding Your Niche

Right before I left for Ghana, an editor e-mailed me with a Delhi-based assignment that I had to decline. I hated doing so, because it was something I would have loved to write, and the assignment fit in perfectly with my long-term goals.

She said she understood, but was disappointed all the same as she said she’d read my work and I would have been the perfect writer for the story.

We didn’t really keep in touch, but before I was leaving America, over a year after our initial contact, I e-mailed her to let her know that I was headed back to India and was available for future work.

To my utter surprise, the initial assignment was still available. In the year and a half that I had been in Ghana, then America, she hadn’t assigned it to anyone. “Couldn’t find anyone suitable,” she said.

Not as much competition as you would think, huh?

I don’t know whether the editor couldn’t find another writer she liked or if she’d particularly wanted to work with me. I didn’t care, and I didn’t ask. She assigned me the work at double the original rate, which at a good four figures hadn’t been bad to begin with.

The experience reiterated to me two things:

1. Editors want and need good writers and have difficulty finding them.
2. Editors like and respect those that they think are good, and will wait for them or make exceptional efforts to work with them.

This isn’t just the case with small publications. I’ve had some editors at national magazines and newspapers tell me they can’t find someone who can get through the entire process without handholding.

Most of all, the problem is that writers expect ready-made assignments and editors want to give anything but that. They want writers to come up with stories, know how to report them, work quickly, and turn in clean copy. It’s not hard, but repeatedly, I’m told that writers fail in at least one of these areas, usually in the pitching of the idea.

I’m sitting in India. I have access to sources, breaking news, a whole community, and of course, conversations in the circles I frequent. If an editor sitting in America or the UK has to come to me with a story idea that I haven’t already heard about, I’m not doing my job right. If the idea I’m proposing is already familiar to him and doesn’t tell him something knew, I’m already too late.

Writers just don’t get it, unfortunately. It’s the hardest lesson to learn. Lots of people can write. Seriously. I know it’s not easy to hear, but the fact that you can write 800-1,000 words of coherent copy means nothing and doesn’t make you special. Personally, I’d hire someone with a great story and limited writing skills than I would a really good writer with no original ideas. In my experience, so will many editors. In fact, one I know hired someone with absolutely no writing skills but dozens of business contacts first thing she arrived in India. Because he’s so well connected, he’s able to offer stories that no one else can. His English can be edited.

I keep banging on about passion, but this is why it’s so important. Having a passion for “writing” is not enough as a journalist or non-fiction writer. You have to bring something else to the table. You’re working in media. Anyone and everyone who is in media, including photographers, videographers, and radio reporters, are expected to write. What’s special about you? What is it that drives you and what do you hope to achieve?

For me, I define it as the ability to find unique and untold stories (and I have to back it up by sending ideas they’ve never heard of or they’ll think I’m full of shit), knowing how to get around locally, getting incredibly personal with most of the people I interview (my notes run dozens of pages, sometimes), knowing several languages, and caring deeply about social injustice. One editor says what he likes most about my work is that I’m able to put a human face to pretty much everything, and that’s why he continues to hire me.

I’m not saying I have it all figured out. I have a long way yet to go. But I do have a good idea of where I want to go with my work. I know, and am now confident in, what differentiates me from the dozens of journalists who arrive in India monthly to start their careers, as well as those already based here.

Do you?

Email-less

I have no e-mail.

Yep, that’s right. For the first time in ages, everything is replied to, taken care of, closed. Boy, how fantastic does that feel? (Hint: very!)

A few weeks ago, I finally sat down and decided how I wanted to handle e-mail. So far, I’ve had catch-all e-mail addresses, which basically meant everything landed in there– personal, professional, newsletters, etc– and it was driving me crazy.

So I’ve streamlined. I created a new e-mail address only for news, rss, writing groups, and all of that stuff. The other two e-mail addresses are for people to contact me via this website, for my editors, for all the things that usually need responding to and filing.

I have to say, it’s made life so much easier. Sure, there are about 378 e-mails in my “News and Stuff” folder right now, but they’re just random e-mails that can be taken care of at any time. I don’t have to worry about filing them or responding to them or even missing them.

The important Inbox, the one I use for correspondence, is empty. Until the next e-mail arrives, that is.

(My e-mail addresses remain the same, for those of you who are in contact with me, so don’t worry about updating.)