“Okay, here's my advice to you (and young journalists in general): 1. You basically have to be willing to devote your life to journalism if you want to break in. Treat it like it's medical school or law school. 2. When interviewing for a job, tell the editor how you love to report. How your passion is gathering information. Do not mention how you want to be a writer, use the word "prose," or that deep down you have a sinking suspicion you are the next Norman Mailer. 3. Be prepared to do a lot of things for free. This sucks, and it's unfair, and it gives rich kids an edge. But it's also the reality. 4. When writing for a mass audience, put a fact in every sentence. 5. Also, keep the stories simple and to the point, at least at first. 6. You should have a blog and be following journalists you like on Twitter. 7. If there's a publication you want to work for or write for, cold call the editors and/or email them. This can work. 8. By the second sentence of a pitch, the entirety of the story should be explained. (In other words, if you can't come up with a rough headline for your story idea, it's going to be a challenge to get it published.) 9. Mainly you really have to love writing and reporting. Like it's more important to you than anything else in your life--family, friends, social life, whatever. 10. Learn to embrace rejection as part of the gig. Keep writing/pitching/reading.”
—Remembering celebrated reporter Michael Hastings, who was killed in a car accident on June 18, with wisdom from his Reddit AMA – a bittersweet addition to our ongoing archive of timeless advice on writing.
Pair with H.P. Lovecraft’s advice to aspiring writers, Ray Bradbury on rejection, and the collected advice of great writers.
“I do not think of my relatives, friends, neighbours, colleagues, acquaintances, as masses; we none of us can or do. The masses are always the others, whom we don’t know, and can’t know. Yet now, in our kind of society, we see these others regularly, in their myriad variations; stand, physically, beside them. They are here, and we are here with them. And that we are with them is of course the whole point. To other people, we also are masses. Masses are other people.
There are in fact no masses; there are only ways of seeing people as masses. In an urban industrial society there are many opportunities for such ways of seeing. The point is not to reiterate the objective conditions but to consider, personally and collectively, what these have done to our thinking. The fact is, surely, that a way of seeing other people which has become characteristic of our kind of society, has been capitalized for the purposes of political or cultural exploitation. What we see, neutrally, is other people, many others, people unknown to us. In practice, we mass them, and interpret them, according to some convenient formula.”
— Raymond Williams, Culture and Society 1780–1950 (1958) (New York: Columbia University Press, 1983), 299–300.
HOW TO PROVE YOUR ELDERS WRONG
Imagine you walk into a room and everyone in the audience is 15 years your elder. Or, maybe you’re in a business meeting and you’re the youngest tenured employee. Imagine what preconceived notions you’re battling against before you even open your mouth.
“Who does he think he is?”
“She’s too young.”
“He has to ‘pay his dues’ before I trust him.”
If you’ve been following this blog, then I know that your reaction to any of these thoughts is “I’ll show them not to doubt me”. The question I ask you is, “How do you plan to do that”? You’re battling against tradition, a stigma of being too young, perceived immaturity, and naivete. How will you fight against that onslaught of hurdles?
It’s simple, you face it head on. You own the responsibilities laid on you and embrace them. Whether you’re starting at a new job, or finally decide to control your own career, you embrace your responsibilities through managing your personal brand. First big move: Survey the Landscape.
Whether you have to formally talk with other people, or locate formal documentation, you need to know the following things to start:
What does success look like in your environment?
How does your brand’s value proposition fit into this framework?
What do you want to accomplish?
Who can you trust that would be a willing, and knowledgeable, mentor?
It’s very hard to argue with success. It’s even harder to argue with consistent success. It’s impossible to argue with success that helps everyone else succeed. You may have been raised to never question your elders but, would you rather follow tradition or blaze your own path?
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via on 
“However, in the midst of this routine, I urge you to remember that in every course, every department, every major, we are all searching for truth. Truth may be revealed to us in a chi-square table with a p value of .05 or less or in a metaphor in a poem written by someone who lives in the tundra or the tropics. It may appear to us in an argument written originally in Latin more than two thousand years ago or in the words of an acquaintance in a chance encounter in a dormitory hallway. We may find truth in a discourse that presents to us a perspective very different from the ones to which we are accustomed, whether that perspective draws from a different political consciousness, a different way of seeing our local community, or a different language or culture. Truth challenges us, outrages us, inspires us, and changes us, but we must be open to the encounter. Sometimes we may be reading or listening to the words of someone whose background is so different from ours we may be tempted to dismiss the message as not relevant to the way we see the world. I urge you to be mindful and present, because the unexpected message may actually find resonance in you: As the narrator of Ralph Ellison’s novel, The Invisible Man, explained: “Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?”
—The Dean of Culture and Society at TCNJ, Benjamin RifkinThe Week's Works: May 31, 2013
Hey everyone! History in the Works is now proud to present a new addition to the blog entitled “The Week’s Works.” Every week, I’ll be posting recommendations of articles, books, songs, movies, and more that you should check out. Here’s the first week’s; let me know your thoughts!
Your Weekly Reads:
- Beyonce On Gender Equality, Power, And Who Decides What’s Sexy by Brianna West, Thought Catalog
- Why the Boomers are the Most Hated Generation by Edward Tenner, The Atlantic
- Drone On by William Satelan, Slate
Your Weekly Tracks:
- Blinding (Hybrid Minds Remix) - Jakwob
Jakwob’s 2012 hit “Blinding” was a mesmerizing blend of reverb heavy pianos and soulful vocals, yet somehow drum and bass duo Hybrid Minds took the song to another level. Whether you’re driving, working out, studying, or just shooting the breeze, throw this on, ease up the bass, and get lost. - Gun - Emiliana Torrini
There’s something undeniably cool about this song. An addictive guitar riff, an ominous buildup, Emiliana Torrini’s haunting vocals, and poetic lyrics depicting - well listen, and find out. I first heard this on the BBC show Luther, starring Idris Elba, and have been hooked to Torrini ever since; the rest of her 2008 album, Me and Armini, is worth checking out.
Your Weekly Movie:
Eastern Promises (2007)
If you haven’t seen this one yet, I highly recommend watching. Viggo Mortensen plays a driver for the Russian mob in London as Naomi Watts plays a midwife intrigued by the diary of a dead woman, and a modern crime noir ensues. Eastern Promises should be remembered for some fascinating performances by a great cast, but the movie is properly rated “R” for some brutally violent sequences.
Your Weekly Photo:
A triangular alignment of planets over Lake Huron, gorgeously captured in orange and blue gradients. Source: kami77 on reddit.
i hate that people think that just cause they say something that is semi intelligently phrased that they think that means it’s true. just read this from a random blog when i searched feminism “The gender roles are universal and have been around since the beginning of time”
like wut, take an anthropology course crazy or don’t say such generalized statements. the gender roles we’re brought up with are completely different than many other cultures. some have it completely opposite with strong women who work and provide and sensitive men who raise the children, and some even have a third gender like in parts of India. like dat shit cray that people believe the gender roles in the US are universal and have been around forever. oh lawwwwrd
but i guess if you say it in an “intelligent” matter that it’s gotta mean you know what youre talking about!
that’s why i say dat shit cray. cause i got facts on my side. oh yeah burn
