Freelance writers: writing is great. But writing isn’t enough
Back in November, I posted a Medium treatise about the kind of stories I wanted to read more of (How To Pitch To Me).
I started editing features for The Guardian US in January, and so far it’s been a blast. Consider this a quick update: in two months, it became clear to me that certain skills are maybe not essential, but very nice to have when pitching to the features desk. I didn’t think much of this while editing op-eds for close to seven years, but it’s the first thing that jumped at me when I took this job.
How will your story be illustrated?
Sure, this is something for picture editors to worry about. But not all organisations have them (sadly). And some editors like to have an input regarding the visual feel of your piece (I am one of them). A big, fat, giant plus when writers send me an idea is to hear “I can take photographs”; “I already have someone prepared to go with me to shoot this story”; “I can recommend someone to do photography in [this small town you want to go to]”; “I have sourced photographs from archives”; “I have personal pictures to share for my essay”.
In other words: your story will be read because it’s good, but it can get 10x more readers if it looks good. Make sure your editor is given the tools to make it look good. This isn’t hugely important for op-eds or even news, but crucial for long reads; features; reportage and a lot of personal essays.
Now, nothing can replace professional photographers (nothing at all! I’m not saying we should erase one profession to replace it with a less skilled one). But:
- having a vague sense of what looks good online
- knowing local photographers who would be a great match for your work
- recommending an illustrator
- teaching yourself how to take decent pictures of a cheap SLR, or even your iPhone
- asking your sources/subjects for photographs of their own
- suggesting a photo essay to go with your writing
- sourcing archive work yourself
Well, do that and you’re golden.
Of course, a “visual sense” isn’t a given, and some people just won’t be very good at it. But that’s a skill you can teach yourself (partly by spending time thinking about articles you’ve been reading which *looked* good).
The best examples for illustrated pieces I have commissioned so far
This piece about a young woman called Beauty who is addicted to drugs by Chris Arnade. Chris is one in a million, mind: he’s an extremely effective writer, and takes superb photographs (more of his work here). This is the dream for an editor.
This piece about hipster churches in Silicon Valley. I don’t know about you, but I like myself some good illustrations. (Here, by Celine Loup. I love her work).
This piece about the God’s Squad, a faith-based group working to end gun violence and liaise between the Brooklyn community and police forces. The black and white photographs are by Philip Montgomery — and they’re gorgeous.
This piece about models being exploited at Fashion Week. Well, of course you want to see the models brave enough to speak out — and Joshua Lott photographed them. I love them, especially the colour palette he used for the series, which matches the theme of the piece.
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You get where this is going. Journalism teachers tell you to build yourself a strong social media presence (yawn), to blog (although that’s probably a bit 2008), to network like crazy, to pitch left and right. All fine and good, but I’m more interested in how to make your writing stand out.
When writers help me do that, it’s the *best*.
