for Journalists
Meet a Journalist
A journalist's profile, stories and career in the field of journalism. Know a journalist who should be profiled here? Send an e-mail to Janet E. Bardon
Posted November 25, 1999
I am into my eighth year as professional freelance writer (started my business when I was 54 ... but who's counting?) I am as excited and passionate about my "job" today, as I was with my first job teaching -- 42 years ago. Teaching led into social work, followed by a few years owning a retail store. Then came a major shift to farming and raising three children along with 10 acres of organic vegetables. Off season I took on contracts teaching communication courses, entrepreneurial programs and a variety of adult training projects. Eight years ago we closed the farm operation and I turned to full time contract positions. Alas, they phased out. Back to the job hunt. Serendipity steps in.
Updated August 2007
Sandra Phinney
Freelance Writer
Yarmouth, NS
s.phinney@ns.sympatico.ca
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/s.phinneyWhile attending a Writers Festival, I took part in a session titled "How to earn your living as a freelance writer." BINGO. My job search was over. I had carried around my career with me all along. (Over the years I had written reports, newsletters, briefs, press releases, profiles, educational materials, manuals, poetry, short stories... ad infinitum) Within a month I did a three year business plan, registered as a small business, joined the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) and signed up for an editing workshop.
Clearly, I had experience in research, interviewing people and writing. However, I was painfully aware that I had no training as a journalist, and it wouldn't be an option to attend a journalism school. So -- I created my own training plan. In a nutshell:
1) Find a mentor. (I asked Dr. Glen Hancock, founding director of the School of Journalism, King's University. He agreed. I was blessed!)
2) Find as many short courses, workshops and seminars related to writing and take as many as you can afford. (During the past four years I enrolled at the Maritime Writers' Workshop at UNB for the non-fiction program with seasoned journalist David Folster and also took a number of day workshops such as editing and how to write documentaries for CBC radio.)
3) Read/study how the "masters" do it. Analyze articles in the New Yorker, Harpers, The Sun, The Imperial Oil Review, Geist ... high end creative non-fiction magazines. Read essays, travel articles and columnists in newspapers! And build a reference library. I've picked up over a hundred excellent books and resource materials -- mainly from used book stores.
4) Join professional writing organizations as soon as you qualify and can afford to join like PWAC, the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), and The Canadian Author's Association (CAA), and get involved right away. Network. Assist where you can.
5) Find out what's available on the net. My favourite for calibre of content is a LitJ list called WriterL. World class journalists and authors contribute commentary on a regular basis. I call this my journalism 101 class.
6) Set goals. I started with local publications...then developed to include regional ones and now have national and US credits.
7) Market yourself. Create a portfolio. Keep it updated. Develop a web site. Establish a "game plan". Contact editors and publishers by mail, phone, in person. Knock on doors.
8) Diversify. My mainstay is magazine features, but I also do copywriting for brochures and pamphlets, advertorials, profiles for newsletters, backgrounders for television, script writing for videos, travel writing etc. I also branched into giving writing workshops.
9) Continually assess and improve. I've learned how to critique my work and incorporate improvements as I go along. I try to raise my own standards with every assignment.
Nutshell: In eight years? I've written articles for over 60 magazines and had over 500 assignments including several cover stories/features. I've had regular columns for cooking, gardening, aquaculture and fisheries. I've produced a handful of short radio documentaries and have written scripts for many company videos. I've written two books, have two more in the making and a collection of poetry ready to market. Not bad for an old lady... and the many people who are teaching her along the way!
What would I recommend to young people considering a career in journalism? Be audacious. Be courageous. Be accountable. Be responsible. Be respectful. Be honest. Be humble. Be thankful. Be the best writer that you can be.
