Readers!
In 2019, I wrote a pretty basic running story for the New York Times, one in a series about training to run the New York City Marathon with my mom. It was perfectly fine, but not my best, and I thought it would pass by with a nod and maybe a shrug. And yet it wound up on the homepage. When a friend texted me to let me know, I wondered why? It was a fun story, but hadn’t garnered much traffic, and certainly hadn’t gone viral nor did I think it had the potential to.
But it landed on the homepage on August 11, 2019, the day after Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide. My story, as middle of the road as it was, was put there as counter programming.
If you’re paying any attention to what’s going, and you have a sliver of empathy towards other human beings, the news right now is very bad — and there’s a lot of it. There’s a lot of great journalism happening too, aided in big part by whistleblowers who are putting their own careers on the line in the hopes of providing information that give people a better foothold to fight back. I’m on awe — really. Doom scrolling, but in awe.
As someone who generally does not write breaking news, I’ve thought “what role do I have in all this?” and “how do I concentrate on anything else?” I bet a lot of writers feel that way. So here are three thoughts about how to frame your work right now:
- You may write the stuff that gives people a break. Yes, I was doom scrolling all through my trip in Disneyland, but I also delighted in a story about a bear who had to be lured out of a basement with rotisserie chicken. I delved into my friend Sophie Brookover’s recap of the last episode of Severance. And sent this story about the Philadelphia Eagles being the most Italian American team in football to all my group chats — and my Italian tutor. I’m not saying that you have to seek out the opportunity to write stories, but know that people are going to want to read SOMETHING else right now.
- Be conscious of your word choices. I never write “during the pandemic” as if if COVID is over; instead I write “during the worst of the pandemic.” No person is “illegal” either. So write “undocumented immigrant” instead. And if your editor changes these purposeful word choices, and you feel safe to do so, push back. It’s a way to show how we should be referring to the world, even if other forces say otherwise.
- It’s a job. Maybe that’s callous of me, but at the end of the day, freelance writing is my job. It’s how I pay my mortgage, for the dog’s fancy kibble, and save for retirement. A lot of my work is going to be shaped by what’s happening in the news, even if it’s not directly reporting it as breaking, and my life is already being impacted in profound ways. But sometimes the thing that gets my butt in the seat to write a story that seems unimportant in the grand scheme of things is that it is how I make a living. That’s important in my little corner of the world.
Since I’m writing this from the airport, the rest of the regular newsletter will have to wait until next week — where I will also have an announcement about re-opening freelance consults and introducing coaching packages! But I will close with a picture from the Disneyland Half Marathon. Did it feel strange being in Disneyland? Yes. Am I glad I ran the races? Absolutely.
Until next time!
Jen A. Miller (she/her)
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