Nikki Bennett's Blog - Posts Tagged "magazine"
Write for Free! It Pays!
Stephen King hit it dead on when he said you have to write every day to be a good writer. Doesn't mean you have to be writing a full-blown novel all the time, it just means you have to write (like I'm writing right now!) When I'm not working on stories, hosting this blog and writing book and travel reviews keeps me busy, but I also write articles for my local magazine.
The PREVIEW is a very community-based magazine. I live in Iwakuni, Japan, and work for the Marine Corps Air Station here. The Preview is our little mag, and doesn't have a huge distribution, seeing as there's only 4,000 of us or so, but it has the feel of a bigger publication. I write for free, but I get paid back tenfold. Here's what I get in return for my time:
1. I have to work with deadlines. This teaches me to make better use of my writing time (although I still end up scribbling something out right before the deadline half the time)
2. I write about different subjects. My novels are all fantasy, fiction, but my Preview articles are either travel related, cultural, or talk about some environmental topic.
3. People see my work. Whether they know it's me or not doesn't matter, but my words are out there in front of others' eyes. This is really important, especially if you're just starting out, because having strangers read your work is a big step for a lot of people (myself included.) There's something terrifying about getting published for the first time--once you get past that fear, writing is a hell of a lot easier.
4. Even though I'm not pushing my books, I'm marketing. I'm marketing myself, my writing style and my thoughts.
So even if I don't get paid for this writing gig, I'm still way ahead. I'm very lucky that I get this opportunity and I encourage others to try. If you have a local paper or magazine in your area, try getting in contact with those folks and see if they need some extra help and wouldn't mind a few free articles. This is a great way to hone your writing skills and to achieve the #1 goal - to keep writing!!
The PREVIEW is a very community-based magazine. I live in Iwakuni, Japan, and work for the Marine Corps Air Station here. The Preview is our little mag, and doesn't have a huge distribution, seeing as there's only 4,000 of us or so, but it has the feel of a bigger publication. I write for free, but I get paid back tenfold. Here's what I get in return for my time:
1. I have to work with deadlines. This teaches me to make better use of my writing time (although I still end up scribbling something out right before the deadline half the time)
2. I write about different subjects. My novels are all fantasy, fiction, but my Preview articles are either travel related, cultural, or talk about some environmental topic.
3. People see my work. Whether they know it's me or not doesn't matter, but my words are out there in front of others' eyes. This is really important, especially if you're just starting out, because having strangers read your work is a big step for a lot of people (myself included.) There's something terrifying about getting published for the first time--once you get past that fear, writing is a hell of a lot easier.
4. Even though I'm not pushing my books, I'm marketing. I'm marketing myself, my writing style and my thoughts.
So even if I don't get paid for this writing gig, I'm still way ahead. I'm very lucky that I get this opportunity and I encourage others to try. If you have a local paper or magazine in your area, try getting in contact with those folks and see if they need some extra help and wouldn't mind a few free articles. This is a great way to hone your writing skills and to achieve the #1 goal - to keep writing!!
