When a smalltown newspaper connects with its readers, it seems more accessible. This is a good and bad thing for an editor, let me tell you, because it often means any aspiring writer wants to stake out their own claim to fame in those pages to talk about how funny their poodle is or what their friends do on the weekends. Dear Internet reader, you know this mundane sort of thing is what you expect to find here and on other personal blogs. The cost of newsprint is too high and space is at too much of a premium to lease it out to any wannabe. We reserve our news hole (*snicker*) for actual news.
The following e-mail sent to me, however, struck a chord because it's the kind of stab in the dark I would have taken at a young age. In fact, one time I even sent some of my cartoons to Boys Life in the hopes of making it big. I was 11 or 12 at the time, and got a nice hand-written response from one of the editors. Fast forward to now, and I did my best to reply via e-mail in a heartfelt and meaningful way. The letter and my response follows:
Dear editor,
My name is (YoungWriter) and I am 11 years old. I am very interested in writing, especially creative writing about things I see and do every day. I would like to write a story for your newspaper and send it to you. Could you read it and maybe put it in the newspaper? Thanks for your time.
(A. YoungWriter)
And here's what I wrote:
Hi (YoungWriter),
Thank you for your interest in (The Newspaper). I, too, began my writing career at a young age and it's something I still love to do many years later.
Rather than submit something to us, I would encourage you to either join the staff of your school paper if there is one, or maybe even talk to your English teacher or principal about starting a school newspaper. Barring that, you might consider writing articles for something like your neighborhood association's newsletter (if there is one) or, if you attend church, something for your church's newsletter. Unfortunately, we do not have the space for personal columns because our main goal is to focus on news and features on other people in the community. We also have a policy that requires us to hire only professional writers, most often people who have studied and have at least a few years of experience.
If you continue to love writing and grow in your skills and abilities, I encourage you to seek a journalism degree in college, or possibly some other writing-related field (some colleges offer degrees in creative writing). Whatever you pursue, if writing is a part of your life, you will be ahead of many of your peers. Not everyone can write, much less enjoy writing.
With your parents' permission, you may even seek to start a Web log (blog) if you do not have one. It's not smart to put a lot of personal information about yourself online, but it is a potential venue for writing about whatever you want. This type of practice is often as valuable as writing school essays. I would avoid MySpace.com, but other free sites such as blogspot.com offer more anonymity and security. Please ask your parents before doing something like that, though.
Best of luck in the future, and thanks again for your interest.
Best regards,
(Surly Editor
The Newspaper
XXX-XXX-XXXX)
A very nice rejection letter. I don't think he'll be too crushed. Maybe he'll start a blog and rant about how a surly newspaper editor shot him down before even reading his story. You may have motivated him more than you think.
Would I get the same kind of letter if I told you I want to write an article for your newspaper? I have some great stories... how about, can I? Huh?
Your Indian name is "Hope Killer".
Actually, it was a very nice rejection letter, and as we all know, if you aspire to write, you better be able to handle those ol' RL's.
And pesky commentors...
Dear Mr. Editor,
I think that a weekly column in your newspaper would help me pursue a career in writing. You may remember that I wrote you last week about my funny poodle and my friends on the weekend, but I realized that everyone writes about that. So I came up with an new idea: I have very funny friends and my poodle does cool stuff on the weekends. Isn't that original? Please let me know when I can begin.
Jeorg
Cowpattie's response is hilarious. Good one!
heh, I mean Cowtown's... rofl. Cowpattie?! Where did that come from? blushing here.