tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58216251996215012962024-02-21T03:22:16.805+00:00Can I Write For A Living?In 2009 I decided to try and do the thing I always wanted to do: become a writer. This blog tracks the journey. I'm now a Content Editor at Matter & Co, writing every day, mostly for Pioneers Post.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.comBlogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-68195883235099574042015-03-21T10:15:00.000+00:002015-03-21T10:17:05.108+00:00The Meaning of Life
I spend a lot of my time wondering if I'm really making the most of my existence. None of us know how long we've got after all. It used to really annoy me that I would spend 40 hours a week moving things around on a screen - is that really living? Surely I should be trying to take in as much of the seemingly unlimited different experiences this mind blowingly varied planet has to offer. Why am IAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-63280374233512068682015-01-18T13:29:00.000+00:002015-01-18T13:41:02.562+00:00Can I Write Content For a Living?
I know - kind of a clunky headline. The alternative was 'Here's What I've Learned About Content in the Last Couple of Months at the Telegraph' which is even worse. I'm hungover so best I can do today.
The Telegraph news room.
In November I answered a request for male writers on a Facebook group and the commissioning editor gave me the gig. The first job was writing how beards are over. For Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-10733619217193408322014-11-03T10:35:00.001+00:002014-11-03T10:35:47.935+00:00You should be reading the Telegraph Magazine
I've long been an admirer of the magazine that comes with the Saturday edition of the Daily Telegraph. If you're interested in writing features, you should really be reading it. They generally have five or six long form essays covering wildly varying subjects and the design is really smart - uncomplicated, easy to navigate and allowing a respectful amount of space to photography that deserves itAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-88269082140062442172014-09-08T09:37:00.001+01:002014-09-08T09:38:34.864+01:00The Buzz of a Byline
I still get it. I've had quite a few now but every time I see my name in print, I still get a little tingle of excitement. Nothing kills the buzz quite so effectively as the title in question spelling my name wrong though. Why is that? Obviously, a little bit about ego. I want people to chance upon that article and see that I wrote it. I want them to be impressed that I got a pitch accepted, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-22717349992351587462014-07-22T22:49:00.000+01:002014-07-22T22:50:29.827+01:00Do like Leonard Does
I've just been reading the ever excellent Brain Pickings, in particular how Leonard Cohen is firmly on the side of the perspiration fence when it comes to that famous quote by Edison. Cohen basically plays the numbers game. He writes 'all the time' and eventually he'll find a song he can work with. He also has an interesting take on employment, something that has taken up a significant portion Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-37994683352518553542014-07-02T18:08:00.000+01:002014-07-02T18:08:17.232+01:00Help Me!
With all the many and various distractions that the internet throws up, you can sure find yourself reading a lot of shit you didn't even know that you were interested in. That's basically the whole ethos behind Sabotage Times. As they say themselves 'We can't concentrate, so why should you?' If there is a silver lining to the problem of internet distraction, it's that the really good ideas standAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-37528648837921579402014-03-10T22:35:00.000+00:002014-03-10T22:37:31.160+00:00I'm Writing for a Living*
...sort of. An opportunity came up to write about music via the day job. That I can do. I can remember lines from songs that I've never bought such as 'You can suntan', one of the finest rhyming couplets ever. (It's from Club Tropicana by Wham!) I can remember stupid trivia about songs like the fact that it's Chaka Khan wailing away in the back of Steve Winwood's 'Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-44841805572947077172014-01-26T20:56:00.000+00:002014-01-26T21:05:39.069+00:00Don't Write For A Living
Do it for the hell of it. Because it's cathartic. Because you feel better after you do it. Because you enjoy the act of creation. Because you like the feel of your fingers on the keys and the rattling sound touch typing makes. Because these words appearing on the screen as you think them feels kind of magical (that's if you're a touch typist). But don't Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-55812768563438934972013-12-15T11:46:00.000+00:002013-12-15T11:46:45.537+00:00Huffington Post bans 'Black Hatting'?
Following my post about making money out of One Direction, I got a few more commissions from clients eager to see their own websites plugged on Huffington Post. One guy even sent me some suggestions of how to write it as the subject matter was so boring I couldn't think how to make it interesting. As I wrote in that last piece, I thought this was a way that everyone could benefit Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-72973634668001666862013-10-29T09:10:00.004+00:002013-10-29T09:10:40.584+00:00Reinvent Yourself!
I don't usually just post links but I wanted to get this out there before I forgot. So easy to do in this age of a million and one things on the internet that will distract you. It's not only a great bit of writing (succinct, witty, honest) but also sage advice. It might give you a clue what has been on my mind a lot lately. Ladies and Gentleman, I give you James Altucher's Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-1278388964061563042013-10-08T19:21:00.001+01:002013-10-08T19:21:48.674+01:00The Importance of Encouragement
Following my 'I'm over it' post a few weeks back, I got an encouraging email from someone I used to write for before he moved jobs, telling me he steers a lot of the interns towards it for 'it's candid insight'. It gave me a bit of a boost, so thanks Duncan. If you're an intern and you're reading this, hope you find something worth reading. Also, if you know someone Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-19181252659649206552013-09-19T21:55:00.000+01:002013-09-19T21:55:17.180+01:00Rant!
I often find a good rant helps. On receiving yet another letter from 'Odey Wealth' asking me to join their wealth management service which is 'open to clients who have investible assets of £500,000 or more', I thought I would do the decent thing and write back.
Hello Crispin
You recently sent me a letter, even though I have no idea how you got my name and address.
I have Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-44497601050224802182013-09-08T14:58:00.000+01:002013-09-08T14:58:17.389+01:00I answered my question
When I first started this blog, the question stood as a challenge to myself - could I do it? Could I make a living out of the only thing I had a true passion for? Back then I loved writing, had just received a big enough redundancy payout to ensure that I wouldn't have to work for six months or maybe more and I think I'd been reading a lot about successful people who had followed Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-48643526991501511872013-05-26T09:48:00.004+01:002013-05-26T09:48:44.276+01:00The Secret of Success
I've only just realised that I'm interested in achievers. I'm interested because I haven't achieved myself, because I'd like to and I want to know how it's done. There's a huge market for it of course - every notable CEO of every successful company has probably put a book out describing how to get there at some point. Given that there are a lot of readers coming to this site from Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-24312474767171970072013-04-27T09:47:00.000+01:002013-04-27T09:47:08.738+01:00How to Find an Angle on a Story
Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West
Following on from the last post, I got another commission this week from the same client. I've never cared for musicals, but I like the Wizard of Oz (who doesn't?) and was interested to discover that Wicked the musical takes the focus away from Dorothy and onto the witches. Because I've been looking for a new job recently, I've been trying to Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-16340549774191021162013-04-07T11:20:00.002+01:002013-04-07T11:23:38.401+01:00How One Direction made me $250
...in which I sell out.
Are you on LinkedIn? You should be. If I hadn't been on there I wouldn't have made $250 writing about One Direction. There are numerous writers groups you can join on there (Content Writers and the Freelance Writers Connection spring to mind) but be warned: there is a lot of crap to sift through. A lot of the content writers stuff, for example, isAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-38155185610096830032013-03-14T20:45:00.001+00:002013-03-14T20:45:54.095+00:00Reasons to Write No. 4: New Experiences
The Westway Sports Centre
When you write you get to do things you might not have considered. One such example is my most recent post for West London Living. Never been turned on by climbing, mainly because I'm scared of heights. Come to think about it, it might well be a good way to get over that fear. Bouldering means you don't have to get too far off the ground Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-66664781733397356912013-02-21T22:03:00.001+00:002013-02-21T22:03:16.704+00:00Free Cocktails!
(Or Reason Number 3 to Write)
This is by way of checking in, as I haven't posted for a while. So much for doing it every Sunday. My latest review for West London Living involved me going to a 'speakeasy'. (London's got a bit of a thing for supposedly hidden bars at the moment.) Three years ago, when I started this business of doing some writing for people, I didn't thinkAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-17833740099608126582012-12-31T10:54:00.001+00:002012-12-31T10:54:57.311+00:00Pass Me On: David Arnold
It took a while to get to David Arnold. When I started Pass Me On it was a response, in part, to putting in requests to PRs and then them humming and hahing before deciding that because I wasn’t GQ there was no chance. ‘Fuck you PRs’ I thought. I’ll do it on my own by getting personal introductions to people, thus eliminating the middle man, ie you. Without the help Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-8307313767544354532012-10-13T19:16:00.000+01:002012-12-31T10:56:41.472+00:00Public Relations
A PR, yesterday.
Once upon a time I used to work for a lads magazine (for foreign readers - a men's lifestyle magazine mostly featuring half naked women) and there was an oft heard phrase in the office: 'PR lies'. This meant a PR promising something that they never delivered. Journalists are of course spoilt in many ways; invitations to free film screenings, bar openings (with Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-71304643926473728512012-08-25T07:29:00.001+01:002012-08-25T07:29:57.996+01:00Advice from a Successful Freelancer
Fiona Sturges
Because I'm interviewing for Pass Me On, I've been scrutinising other interviews more closely. One that leapt out at me was Fiona Sturges encounter with Antony Hegarty. If you know a little about him, you'd think he'd be an interviewers dream. Trembling, fragile voice coming out of a big, androgynous man who sings 'about loving dead boys, plaintive letters Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-11259114485254734632012-07-22T21:46:00.000+01:002012-07-22T21:50:32.067+01:00What Happens Next?
I've just finished reading Peter Preston (@PJPrest) in the Observer giving an overview of the direction in which newspapers seem to be going. For those of us that work in the industry, the figures make for depressing reading. To crib from his feature (which you can read here) the Times and Sunday Times is losing somewhere between £11m and £60m, Lebedev's Independent and Standard Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-51221329407151593582012-06-15T07:37:00.000+01:002012-06-15T07:37:06.788+01:00Disillusioned? Work Harder!
I'm having a mid life crisis. Phew, just getting it out there feels better. I blame marriage (and lack of exercise). To explain, I've just been through one of the happiest periods of my life. Our wedding day, purposely not the big ball of stress that they can sometimes turn into, had been in the making for about nine months. The nearer you get to the date, the more Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-65380099092991394342012-04-29T07:14:00.000+01:002012-04-29T07:14:38.260+01:00Specialise
At the end of a long week, I met some colleagues from the magazine I used to work for in the local pub. One of them, Rob, is working for the most visited newspaper website in the world (Mail Online). He's also just about to become a father and, tired of the 12 hour days he's required to put in, has handed in his notice. His wife has had to endure most of her pregnancy withoutAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5821625199621501296.post-20502019128085371802012-03-31T09:01:00.001+01:002012-03-31T09:02:38.612+01:00Reasons to Write Part 2: Press Trips
'I'm eating your tree - you cool with that?'
So what do you want to gain out of this writing gig then? Money, fame, adulation? We may not all get to be Hunter S Thompson, JK Rowling or Stephen King but if there is one thing that writing is near guaranteed to give you, it's new experiences. I hadn't thought much about Victoria Falls before I went there last week. Sure IAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12175709522642017617noreply@blogger.com0