fbpx

Month: May 2012

  • May 17, 2012

    So you want to be a writer…

    so you want to be a writer

    I’ve worked with a fair few interns in my time. They range from the one who didn’t last a day (so gung-ho at the start but quickly realised the reality of journalism was not what he envisioned) to outstanding candidates I wished we could pay. I’ve been asked by students for industry advice, which I most assuredly do not feel qualified to give.

    Ergo: this braindump covering most of the things I would like to tell would-be writers.

    You will be overworked, underpaid and underappreciated. Perennially underresourced.

    Pay starts low and stays low. It’s not like, say, accounting – where you start on $40k and work on up to $100k in a few years.  The industry is relatively flat; it’s not like there is a huge ladder to climb.

    You will in all likelihood need to pay some serious dues. Internships help get your foot in the door. (I hope you got yourself qualified, because the degree is practically mandatory now.) Working the crappy shifts will help you get your foot in the door and rack up valuable experience. Although depending what you go on to (breakfast TV? online news? Talkback radio?) the hours may ALWAYS be bad. (At first you’ll feel SUPER IMPORTANT because you’re NEEDED at all hours! And then that novelty wears off and you’ll resent the intrusion.)

    It is not (always) as exciting or glamorous as you might think. Sometimes we get to meet important and/or famous people. Sometimes we get wined and dined and plied with crap. There’s also the mundane and often repetitive stuff. You’ll get used to writing stories about similar things: awards, surveys, reports, acquisitions, events, fires, arrests, issues that “spark a debate”, etc. You don’t always get to choose what you write about. The unsexy stuff (tech, business) pays better and has better hours. You might have overbearing subeditors – or none at all.

    You’ll need to be fast. Onto it. Understand digital. (I never want to hear “do you use hyperlinks in your web stories?” again.). It will be to your benefit to know what CMS stands for; have a few basic Photoshop skills; have profiles on social media so that you know how those networks work, for starters. You need to exist online. It freaks me out to Google you, expecting to see clips, or at least a Twitter or LinkedIn profile, and come up empty.

    It’s thankless. Not just in terms of readers, but also, the self-deprecating, self-mocking culture among us. (From what I can tell, this can be found in academia too – why do we keep doing this? There must be something wrong with us. But we keep plugging away anyway.)

    Some of this applies to wannabe pro bloggers, too. I am not one of them, so I won’t speak to this for long (I’ve made a few bucks online without trying but it took me a couple of years; the hourly rate is good but spread out over all the hours I spend on blogging, would be well into the many decimal points of cents).

    Again, you cannot simply write about whatever you want and expect to be able to make a living doing so off the bat. You’ll need to learn about SEO and marketing and find a niche, and it’s only getting harder from hereonin as everyone and their dog pursues the lifestyle design movement. You are relatively late to the game; you won’t be a Dooce or Tavi or Gala Darling. (But if that’s the path you want to pursue, you can do it authentically and without being a douchebag.)

    If you go the freelance route? Much the same. Learn to pitch. Learn to sell yourself. Learn to market your skills. Read the blogs of those at the top of their game, because you’ll find everything you need to know there: finding outlets, utilising social media, crafting pitches, crafting letters of introduction, setting rates, choosing markets. (See the Career section in my blogroll for some awesome resources.)

    I haven’t done the full-time freelancing thing, but I know people who are/have. It’s tough. Rates, at least here, haven’t changed in decades. There are fewer and fewer staff writers these days, which opens up freelance opportunities…but still. Hopefully these days there are also opportunities overseas too.

    They tend to supplement writing with non-editorial work (advertorial, marketing, corporate copywriting); many have steady or semi steady/ freelance subbing gigs (it’s infinitely tougher without some regular contracts to rely on). They’re always juggling multiple assignments and looking ahead to securing the next one.

    That said, we wannabe writers just keep coming. Most switch over to PR after a couple of years (I’m tempted to sit down and calculate the percentage from my graduating class, but I’ll restrain myself). A few soldier on.

    Last thoughts: Like Amy Poehler says in her kickass commencement speech to those who want to follow her into acting, don’t. But if you ignore this and insist on doing so anyway, then you’re probably in the right place.

  • May 16, 2012

    Adventures in the kitchen: The chocolate peanut butter edition

    First up: Chocolate peanut butter cheesecake

    I’ve actually made this twice. The first time I completely forgot about the icing. T wasn’t a fan of the rolled oats in the base, either (possibly because a few noticeable flakes escaped the punishing blades of the food processor) and thought it needed “something else”, namely the glaze. I thought it was delicious, personally. But I’m not picky.

    Take 1

    Take 1

    The second time I skipped the flour and oats, and substituted vanilla wine biscuits (the best kind). I did forget to swirl the layers together (there’s always something!) but I made the icing. I wasn’t a fan of the sour cream plus chocolate, so added some icing sugar and cream cheese into the fun.

    Take 2

    Take 2

    I won’t lie; it’s a little pricey. It’s about $10 alone for the creams and chocolate, plus all the other stuff, but hopefully you’ll have those ingredients on hand. BUT SO WORTH IT.

    Original recipe found here. (Sorry about the crappy late night photos!)

    Base: ¼ cup caster sugar; ¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar; 50g butter, softened; 2 heaped tbsp smooth peanut butter; 1 egg, lightly beaten; ½ cup plain flour, sifted; 2 tbsp cocoa, sifted; ½ cup rolled oats; ¼ tsp baking powder; pinch sea salt

    Cheesecake: 500g cream cheese; 3 eggs; 3 egg yolks; 200g caster sugar; 125ml sour cream; 250g smooth peanut butter; 100g dark chocolate

    Chocolate Glaze: 250ml sour cream; 100g dark chocolate

    METHOD

    Heat oven to 160°C. Line 23cm round springform tin with baking paper.

    Base: Place all the ingredients for the biscuit base in the bowl of a food processor and blitz until the mixture comes together in a ball. Line base of prepared tin and bake for 15 mins. Refrigerate for a few minutes to set the base.

    Cheesecake: Mix all ingredients except peanut butter and chocolate in the bowl of a food processor and blend until uber smooth. Divide mixture equally between three bowls. Mix peanut butter into one bowl until smooth. Mix melted chocolate into a second bowl of mixture.

    Pour half of the remaining plain cheesecake mixture onto biscuit base. Top with peanut butter cheesecake and chocolate cheesecake. Use a bamboo skewer or small spoon to swirl the mixture through. Top with remaining plain cheesecake mixture and smooth the top.

    Bake for one hour until the top of the cheesecake is just set.

    Glaze: Melt cream and chocolate together and gently – very gently – pour over the cooked cheesecake and smooth it out with a palate knife or spatula. Return to oven and bake for a further 5-10 minutes.

    OH SO GOOD!

    Frugal factor: low. See ingredient list.

    Also: no-bake chocolate peanut butter cake

    Chocolate peanut butter no-bake cake

    This is seriously the easiest thing ever. It’s also very rich – small servings will last you a few days.

    Original recipe here.

    200g (7oz) whipping cream
    400g (14oz) good quality chocolate (milk or dark)
    200g shortbread biscuits (I actually didn’t measure this or the peanut butter – I used what looked like suitable amounts)
    150g  peanut butter

    METHOD

    Bring cream to the boil in a small saucepan.

    Line a loaf pan with baking paper, cling wrap or foil.

    Bash or chop chocolate into small chunks and place in a bowl or jug. Add hot cream and stand for 5 minutes.

    Stir cream and chocolate until smooth and well combined. Pour enough melted chocolate into the base of the cake to cover the bottom.

    Place a layer of shortbread on top. Cover with peanut butter. Add another shortbread layer then drizzle the last of the chocolate over.

    Refrigerate overnight.

    The cream and dark chocolate mix is out of this world. It’s not too sweet and not too heavy – a divine blend of thick, rich dairy.

    Frugal factor: middling. Some stuff you’ll probably need to buy.

  • May 14, 2012

    Working from home: a mixed bag

    I’m a big fan of working from home, from time to time. This is the first job I’ve had where it’s really possible, and at times, it’s rather nice. Sometimes it’s also practically a necessity when I’m on a print deadline and need to eke out time to write my features, without getting caught up with all my other daily to-dos, emails that come in and what not. And I find it much easier to concentrate on crafting longer-form pieces when I’m in my home environment.

    (Also, does overreliance on email bug anyone else? I work in digital – and I hate phone calls; email in the first instance please – but I’m not always glued to a screen. I eat lunch. Sometimes I’m in meetings. Sometimes I even have to leave the office for legit work purposes. Hard to believe, I know. If it’s urgent and you haven’t heard back from me, CALL. My numbers are in my signature; pick up the phone and dial them.)

    Pros:

    • No need to get dressed
    • No commute
    • (Hopefully) fewer interruptions – be it fire alarms, network going down, colleagues stopping by

    Cons:

    • Using up electricity and internet data on your own dollar
    • Potentially MORE, different, distractions
    • Not having access to everything you would have in the office

    I think I’m one of those people that would do really well as a telecommuter, working remotely. I don’t need people contact to stay sane (more like the opposite, in truth). I’m self-driven. I’m not in a position that requires lots of teamwork and coordination.

    That said, I’m not a telecommuter. And face time with coworkers and higher-ups is important, too.

    Do you ever work from home? Or do you wish you did?

  • May 12, 2012

    Link love (Powered by the blahs, but also, ample blogspiration)

    Winter has officially swept into town. Boots. Scarves. Stockings. They’re all in, and my sandals and thin cardigans are out.

    This is our first winter in our current house and I can see my breath in the mornings in our bedroom. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be damp and the kitchen gets a lovely ray of sunlight in which I bask while eating my toast. It’s quite pleasant, really.

    This week’s links

    On my Tumblr: Don’t be one of THOSE comms/PR people. Or we can’t be friends anymore.

    Hannah Katy dishes out some tough talk on making a difference in the world.

    10 reasons NOT to trust dudes with finance degrees, via Ms Career Girl.

    Can you really pull yourself up by the bootstraps? 20s Finances tackles a touchy topic on the Yakezie blog.

    Cassie at Digging Out and Up lists all the things she could buy if she didn’t save.

    Mmmm. Lemon + blueberry + yoghurt + loaf = a recipe I must try. Via These Little Moments.

    Two Degrees shares some of her personal blind spots.

    Zen Habits on how to be happy. Word.

    Like Cait at Stratejoy, I’ll admit to at least a partial belief in manifesting. I definitely don’t think positive thinking and visualising desired outcomes can ever be a bad thing.

  • May 10, 2012

    On authenticity in blogging

    On authenticity in blogging

    I don’t know about you, but I make a point to only read blogs that strike a chord with me.

    I don’t comment on posts merely for the sake of it.

    I don’t follow everyone back on Twitter.

    I curate discerningly. If we interact online, you can be assured that it’s genuine and for a reason.

    I (pretty selflessly) share link love every week and share posts from around the web that I think kick ass, and there are several blogs I read and comment on that don’t reciprocate. And that’s fine. That’s not what the end game is about for me.

    These are blogs I enjoy on their own merit, and it doesn’t need to be two-way for me to continue to show my appreciation (though I tend not to comment on a few of the really huge blogs, because I just don’t know if the 100th or 200th comment actually ever gets read). Likewise, I try to always visit the blogs of new commenters – but if they’re not up my alley, I simply won’t subscribe.

    I’m not saying that I never participate in marketing of any form. Commenting on other blogs and interacting with you guys on social networks is part of that – but it is NOT the primary reason I do it. As I said just the other week, I blog for love (and narcissism). I was a blog reader before I was a blogger, and participating is something I genuinely enjoy; when it starts to feel too much like a chore, I lay off for a bit.

    I didn’t know the first thing about blogging four years ago, and I simply did what felt natural. Turns out it also brought readers, and behold, some of y’all are downright regulars here now. A happy, accidental surprise.

    Work is where I worry about traffic, referrals, comments and time spent on site. This is for self expression.

    I originally joined 20SB and Yakezie and got into blog carnivals without really knowing what it was all about, because all the cool kids seemed to be doing it. I do participate in carnivals semi-regularly, and when approached to host one for the first time, took up the offer. I see them as a way to discover new blogs I might like to read, and to hopefully spotlight some of my better posts (ones I think are deserving of being shared, rather than whoring posts out blindly). This is deliberate and selective on my part. It’d be an understatement to say I’ve been sporadic about participation over the past couple years, though I’ve been more active of late.  Suffice to say it’s not something that is hugely important to me; I don’t do it every week, and I definitely do not sit down to write posts with the mindset of creating something to submit to a carnival.

    The blogs I love most, though? Generally, I don’t find them through networks like that. I discover them serendipitously and fall in love with them on my own. I’ve found bloggers gravitate toward networks when they’re chasing growth and monetisation rather than personal, heartfelt writing.

    Getting to the point…

    Even if you consider your blog a business … even if you started blogging with the sole intention of growing traffic and making money … you can still be real about it.

    The best blogs rock because they have a voice. Nicole Is Better, Budgets Are Sexy, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Seth Godin, Dooce, Redhead Writing, Yes and Yes, Healthy Tipping Point, Susannah Breslin, Penelope Trunk? They all have personality, and they got big by being themselves, being honest, being authentic. Not through lame link exchanges, pleading, or threats. When I see people resorting to these tactics, I’m embarrassed for them. Business on the social web is not like business 1.0. It’s about personality, engagement and transparency – without forcing mutual backscratching.

    It’s about (corniness alert) heart. It’s about being unselfish; giving before taking; being genuine in all your interactions with others. If you’re not, people will see right through you.

    Worry about doing good work. Create awesome content. As Matt from the Oatmeal says: Don’t ask for likes – make things that are likable. Make stuff worth sharing. For me, it’s not always the posts I spend the most time crafting that go off. In reality (corniness alert again!) it’s my straight-from-the-heart, honest, open posts that get the most shares and most responses. For you, maybe it means writing insanely helpful tutorials or insanely funny listicles. Whatever.

    I am a writer. Not a salesperson. I know I can blog organically, authentically and with integrity, attracting likeminded readers who appreciate who I am as a person and all the different interests I have. Some have stuck with me as my writing changes; some haven’t. It’s all part of the journey.

    My blog continues to evolve, and I don’t know where it will end up. But however long you stay for the ride, your company is welcomed and appreciated.

  • May 9, 2012

    The slow reading movement

    Jadavpur university bookstore

    (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    I like the idea of the slow food movement. I’ve always loved to eat. But for a long time, I revelled in my inability to cook. I think I had a twisted notion that it enhanced my uniqueness somehow, along with the fact I played electric and listened to grunge (a girl who can’t cook! And in a post-feminist world, that’s okay!).

    Then I decided I loved food too much to hold back. I’ve a long way to go to catch T, who’s been watching Food TV forever and has that instinct about pairing flavours and textures and ingredients. But I’m gettin’ there.

    And deliberate, conscious choices in food consumption, I think, should be celebrated and applauded. I’m still very much price-conscious, but quality is incredibly important to me, and really, who doesn’t love to spend a lazy Saturday morning at the farmer’s market?

    But I digress. What I wanted to talk about was this: a slow-books manifesto.

    Read books. As often as you can. Mostly classics.

    (What does that sound like? Michael Pollan, you say? You’d be right. “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”)

    That’s a big call, I say. I reckon my literary split is about 50/50. Of course, the classics take me alot longer to plough through, so it feels more like 90/10.

    Classics are hard work. I do enjoy them, most of the time. They’re demanding, yes, but often proportionately more rewarding.

    But I need to break them up with lighter material that’s less taxing. There’s also the fact that the heavier material is usually more, erm, depressing. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with reading fluffier stuff at all. I didn’t personally feel any need to branch out from YA and blockbusters until a couple of years ago. Whatever your taste is, I just think it’s awesome that you are an adult reader, because too many people give up books after school.

    Reading should be celebrated and encouraged (though I think the memoirs of reality stars are about as bookish as those foul fruit rollups are foodish).

    How would you describe your literary tastes?

  • May 8, 2012

    Tuesday Three: The social media edition

    • LinkedIn

      LinkedIn (Photo credit: Christopher S. Penn)

      One of my pet peeves is strictly professional contacts adding me on Facebook. This is not appropriate! Subscribe to my page updates if you must, but there’s no need to befriend me. We are not friends. Connect with me on LinkedIn – and if we already have, let’s leave it there (that’s happened too).

    • I have a policy of accepting most LinkedIn requests – often they’re not people I’ve actually dealt with before, but by virtue of the industry, could well do in the future (and usually I’ll be familiar with their name or at least the company). Potentially useful contacts are always good to have on hand. Lately I’ve had a couple – one from a total stranger with no personal message included, though we both went to the same university – and one who indicates she’s had dealings with me at her company (she hasn’t). I’ve left these sitting untended in my inbox for weeks and probably need to deal to them.
    • People who do not exist online freak me the hell out. (As Lorna Borenstein said at a conference I recently attended, for many Gen Yers, if we’re not pushing out updates on our social profiles, it’s as if we don’t exist.) You NEED to be Google-able. You’re doing yourself a disservice otherwise. I want to be found by people who might have story ideas for me or want to collaborate. You might want to be found by headhunters or potential business clients, and the social web gives you access to them. Maybe you don’t need to be constantly cultivating your social identities, but at least set up a LinkedIn profile or an about.me page.
  • May 7, 2012

    Adventures in the kitchen: Potato, bacon and leek soup

    Bacon, potato and leek soup

    Have I said this before? I could live off potatoes. So filling, so versatile, so cheap.

    While most of you are enjoying the yield to warmer weather, things are cooling down here.

    So Cate’s leek soup was calling my name, and with the addition of some leftover bacon and bacon bones and some other tweaks, it blew my mind.

    Ingredients for my version:
    One leek
    Two potatoes
    2 tbsp olive oil
    1 tbsp unsalted butter (can omit for a vegan soup)
    3 cups stock
    Freshly-ground black pepper
    1/4 cup heavy cream (can omit for a vegan soup)

    Directions:
    Slice leeks into rings and dice potatoes finely.

    Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pot and cook leeks over medium heat until they are soft.

    Add the potatoes and stock. Simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the cream before serving and season as needed. If you’re making this with the bacon, I doubt you’ll need salt; but if you’re skipping it, then sea salt to your heart’s content. Serves two.

    Frugal factor: high. I included a bit of bacon, which would be the priciest part of the equation.

  • May 7, 2012

    Link love (Powered by doughnuts and endless emails)

    Reading through some of my old posts recently, I couldn’t help but feel a wave of nostalgia. For the bloggers I used to read, who’ve stopped writing. Many of them were once commenters here, but no more.

    When I first started reading blogs I was a lot more discerning. I limited my reading; I liked to feel I knew the basics about each person I read about – age, occupation, family, location, etc. But bloggers come and go – especially in the personal finance area, where so many are anonymous, or eventually come to the end of a financial journey, and simply fade away.

    Now I’ve added more and more fresh blogs to my reader (I’m up to 432, though that includes old feeds to blogs that are no longer active, like some of those below). I’m still picky. I often find myself visiting a blog multiple times through links from elsewhere before taking the step of subscribing. But I’m going to take a moment here to mention some of the bloggers I miss:

    Girl with the Red Balloon

    Katie/Red was a fellow (ex) journo who quit the profession because it didn’t offer the right kind of lifestyle and pay. I was seriously envious of her writing chops and her dedication to minimalism, fitness and debt payoff.

    Fabulously Broke

    Since her blog was bought out, it just hasn’t been the same. There are still plenty of pre-written FB posts, but that’s not going to last forever – and the posts that aren’t by her very obviously stand out. Luckily she has a new blog: Mochi and Macarons (two things I do not care for, but I do love her style!)

    The Anti-Socialite

    One day her posts stopped showing up in my reader. Upon checking the link, though I found out it’s gone private (so maybe she’s still blogging quietly!).

    Dog Ate My Finances

    Dog was brusque and I didn’t agree with a lot that she said. But I admired her chutzpah and am sad that her blog seems to have been sold to some crappy company trying and failing at SEO (hence why I’m not linking).

    SF Money Musings

    Loved her because she was another introverted, creative, Asian girl making it in the big city. Again, her blog seems to have been sold to the lowest common denominator.

    Frugal Dreamer

    A down-to-earth Canadian girl whom you just couldn’t help but warm to.

    Blonde and Balanced

    She started out on WordPress as Carrie on the Cheap, then came out as her real self and moved over to B&B. Now she’s gotten married, bought a house and stepped back from the blogosphere.

    An English Major’s Money

    I’ve already done a fan post about this girl. So much smarter than I’ll ever be.

    Special Snowflakes and Other Myths

    I still think this is the greatest premise for a blog ever. My dad was definitely guilty of cultivating this in me. Despite having terrible self esteem and body image issues, I used to have an inflated perception of my own abilities. Writing – I thought this would surely lead to a great writing career. Music – I thought I could sing. I wrote songs (mostly lyrics, a few actually set to music). All things I thought the world would embrace. All things that millions of others are also vying for, every day.

    How many blogs do you read? Any blogs you’ve seen disappear you wish would come back?

    Links I liked this week:

    Some excellent life advice from Just a Titch.

    Bullish advice on asking for more money.

    A lovely, bittersweet post on life and death by Kara.

    What to do after making a career switch, at Life Etc.

    Tips for the first time cruiser, from Stephany Writes.

    My post on getting back into your groove, How to reclaim your work mojo, was in the last carnival of personal finance.

    And more recently, Journalism lessons for the rest of us (on thinking like a journo to get ahead) made it into the Yakezie carnival.

    Blast from the past

    One year ago…
    I pondered the impact of class in the workplace;
    Outlined why I have no management aspirations;
    Talked about having a communications degree;
    Shared some of my favourite cheap eats in Auckland;
    Blogged about peak creative times.

    Two years ago…
    My childhood best friend found me through Facebook;
    I struggled with some relationship imbalance;
    And blogged about the plight of the journalism grad.

    Three years ago
    I recounted some of my early jobs;
    And asked why YOU blog.

  • May 5, 2012

    Review: The Complete Stories – Franz Kafka

    There are three parts to The Complete Stories.

    The two openers, Before the Law and The Imperial Message, which I *think* are about patience and perseverance and I especially liked.

    The main body, including his seminal The Metamorphosis and other stories. Kafka’s gothic dark humour really shines through. He seems to have a thing about imperial rule/animals/death/imprisonment and of course, the human condition. Prime example: the true-to-life, packed with allusions, The Hunger Artist.

    Some were deathly dull. The Burrow, I didn’t even read. Some are just bewildering: Description of a Struggle (WTF was going on there? Please enlighten me if you’ve read it), Wedding Preparations in the Country.

    His most famous work was, of course, The Metamorphosis – very Greek tragic, beautifully haunting.

    But my favourite was a very, very dark one, In the Penal Colony, featuring an unthinkable machine of torture. Simultaneously absurd and horrifying, you have to wonder what was going through his mind.

    And then the shorter vignettes of the final section, some just a couple of paragraphs long. A few shiners, but overall more unpolished diamonds than gems, in my view.

    No doubt these are stories that get better with multiple readings – I just don’t want to put in the time.

    • Previous
    Next