Update: And doggone it, people like me!

This was the Stuart Smalley-inspired blog entry I wrote on January 22, 2007:

"I want to be a professional freelance writer. I want to do this in Bozeman, Montana. I want to cover people and events I myself find interesting. I want to write for magazines and newspapers, based in print or on the Internet, that have an appreciation and respect for my talent, and that challenge me in ways that I find constructive. I want to be paid well for my efforts.

"Okay, that was weird. It better work."

Back then I was agonizing over the fact that a local weekly newspaper stopped returning my phone calls, and I doubted that I'd ever be able to make a living at this. I've certainly come a long way in the nine months since then. Today I was working on an article for a prestigious national publication in which I'm getting more than $1 per word. I still haven't quite gotten it to where work is steady and I just come up with ideas and editors beg me for the honor of gracing their publications with my articles, but I feel like I'm really not too far away from that. There have actually been editors competing for my articles, and I've been able to garner more money for my work because of it.

So, let's just say that maybe Stuart Smalley knows what he's doing, okay? And, with that in mind, I might as well start a fresh one:

"I want to make a decent living as a professional freelance writer. I want to be based in Bozeman, Montana, but I also want to be paid to travel to assignments in far-flung locales. I want editors to continue to have an appreciation and respect for my talent, and continue to challenge me in ways I find constructive. I want editors to respond to my ideas and queries, and I also want editors to contact me with their ideas for me. I want longer assignments, and I want $1/word to be the minimum I will accept for an assignment. I want to continue working with photographer Anne Sherwood, and I want her to continue getting assignments, too. We both want to start shooting video.

"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!"

What the hell - why not?

Spinner of yarns, maker of floats

The mystery is revealed! Here's my latest in the High Country News - it's the story photographer Anne Sherwood and I were working on for the trip down to Wyoming several weeks ago (see a couple of entries below).

Added bonus - there's a movie! Well, sort of a movie. Basically it's a slideshow with Black George (and a few questions and interjections from me) as voice-over. Movies are new to the hcn.org website; so new, Anne and I didn't even know we were making one. But, hey, not a bad start, no? Next stop, Hollywood!

Fe fi fo fum

I'm a natural videographer, don't you think?

For more Whitefish trip photos (and a few Evel Knievel Days photos for good measure), click here.

Free Wisdom

NOTE: I wrote this post back in July, then took it off after I got a bit paranoid about writing in the big leagues and having a somewhat revealing blog. Rereading this, I realize I wrote nothing that could get me in trouble, and what I wrote is, I think, really worth having up here. I'll even add an update at the end.

****

A few weeks ago I noticed something: though it's happened sporadically, I've added a total of one new publication to my list of credits for every month that I've been back in Bozeman. I think that's pretty good, so I'm going to try to keep it up.

Let's see, it's now July, and I got here in October. That's nine months:

1) The Tributary
2) Billings Gazette
3) Belgrade News
4) Outside Bozeman
5) Distinctly Montana
6) Christian Science Monitor
7) North Bay Bohemian
8) High Country News
9) Jackson Hole News and Guide

Not bad, huh? The trick now is to keep adding the higher-paying publications, and try to up my ante a bit. That's what I'm working on.

I've come up with a theory to that effect, which is based on my long and varied experience waiting tables. I have worked in lousy two-bit diners and high-end candlelit affairs, and everything in-between. In all those places there were some really good servers and some really bad servers - it didn't make much difference whether the place was a horrible place to work and you made really bad tips, or if it was just the opposite. Well, maybe it made a little bit of difference, but not as much as you'd think.

I noticed there were some really good servers in really bad restaurants, and some bad servers in good restaurants. The same, I think, is true for publications. I don't know how bad writers end up in good publications, but I'm not going to worry about that. The thing that concerns me is the really good writers who work for the really - well, not bad, but low-paying - publications. And, naturally, I'd venture to put myself in this category.

Whether we're waiters or writers, why do we do this? Convenience, ignorance, fear... there's a lot of reasons, I think, but none of them are very good. The thing is, if you realize you're doing it, that's probably the first step to changing it. I think a good writer can write for high-paying publications, just as good servers serve for restaurants in which they make a lot in tips. It's just a matter of confidence, timing, and persistence.

So that's what I'm gonna do.

****

UPDATE: It's September now, and I've been itching to reveal my new additions to the list. Some of these I'm still awaiting contracts for, and none of the articles have come out yet, but I'm excited so I'll list them anyway.

10) The New York Times (two articles awaiting publication)
11) Montana Magazine
12) Outside's GO
13) Big Sky Journal

I'm even two magazines ahead of schedule!

Logs

Think we've got enough for the winter here? (I sure hope so.)

3 Peas in a Pod

Aren't we all cute and cuddly here? That's me on the left and photographer Anne Sherwood on the right. And the dashing man in the middle? Well, I'm going to be coy about that for now. Let's just say that Anne and I went on assignment in Wyoming, he had something to do with it, and root beer floats were part of the deal.

I've been off the blog for a while, for a couple of reasons. One is pure laziness, another is I've been busier than usual because I've had several new assignments for great publications, and another is that I've had to reassess what this blog is supposed to be about. As a journalist for high-falutin' publications, I can't really express myself in the way that I've grown accustomed to, because I'm supposed to be unbiased - and that affects everything I do publicly, right down to this blog. That's something I totally support, because I embrace this role, and I think the rules are good. As journalists, we have more power than the average joe on the street, so we don't need to assert ourselves in other ways. That all sounds fine to me on paper, but the reality of it hasn't been so easy to embrace. I have to be careful what I say - which kind of defies the original purpose of this blog. Hopefully I'll find a happy medium somewhere.

Here's some new articles for you:
Sculpting a reason to love the wind, High Country News, Aug. 20, 2007
(You'll need to subscribe to read the complete text, at least until Sept. 17 or so. Then it's free.)
Sculpting a reason to love the wind

Eco People, The Tributary, Sept. 2007
Eco People