Archive for June, 2008
Part of my writing experience includes writing reviews of gadgets, events and products. Most recently, I found myself doing some reviews for Macnn.com and here’s a link to this writing.
Keep reading…I have some updates to come and some exciting info for those of you who are fans of Randy Cohen and The Ethicist
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Tags: gadgets, Macnn.com, podcast, Randy Cohen, reviews, The Ethicist
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The Sabbatical was developed in three, four-month parts and I began this journey on March 1. If your math is good and you’ve been following along the entire time, you’ll realize that I’m at the 1/3 mark.
After four months, I’ve queried dozens of outlets, have been in contact with multiple editors and other journalism professionals, have started work on a couple books and have created a path to follow for the remaining 2/3 of this journey.
I am still positive that I’ll be able to remain free of the shackles of my previous existence (that being an onsite freelancer for myriad clients) and forge a living and a creatively fulfilling life with columns, commentary and larger works.
More details to come on what’s ahead in the second segment. Suffice it to say, this is where the real ‘artist’ phase takes place. The guts of each book need to be slapped onto pages and deadlines will reveal themselves in the glory we all cherish (sarcasm).
Keep reading and I’ll keep you updated!
Buzz This Post Tags: 1/3, books, columnist, Jeff Cutler, progress report
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Pure and simple, the only reason I can find for the lack of progress in a writer’s world (and I’m using mine as the current example) is sheer procrastination and ambivalence.
The last three weeks have presented me with a handful of quasi projects. These are the kind that don’t have a deadline and are purely speculative. Stuff like creating the outline for a novel, writing a feature article for which the queries have been rejected numerous times, and writing up product reviews that can’t be completed because my time with the products has been minimal.
Along with those mini roadblocks I have just returned from a body-altering session with two high school friends in Atlanta. The four days I spent with them probably did enough damage to me to last a few months, so getting back on the writing horse has been difficult.
For example, my right shoulder is garbage from throwing the baseball with them and from paddling down the Chattahoochee. My left hip is bruised beyond belief from a line drive in the batting cage. My liver may have some alcohol-related issues. And my immune system is probably weakened from the multiple planes I inhabited getting to and from Atlanta.
So, it’s now THURSDAY and I’m finally poised to get back on the keys. But ahead of me is a rehearsal dinner, a wedding, some house guests and a full house cleaning. Which means that my writing will have to be shoehorned in between all manner of other activities.
Seems like I probably should have continued freelancing for my many clients and just wrote when I had time. The only difference would have been that I’d be pulling in cash instead of gobbling up sabbatical savings.
C’est la vie. It’s the writer’s life I suppose.
Complaining done. Back to the laptop.
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Buzz This Post Tags: atlanta, fun, Jeff Cutler, lazy, procrastination, vacation
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I’m faced with evaluating my recent adventures down in Atlanta from an intellectual perspective. To put it simply, I’m wondering if my jaunt in the south was essentially a sabbatical from the sabbatical.
I was down south helping a friend cope with some recent personal issues and therefore didn’t focus on my writing. I chronicled some of the adventures – Southern Construction and Kayak Madness – but I didn’t get elbows-deep in crafting descriptions, exploring new characters or even whipping a sentence into shape.
Now I’m back in my office and looking at the murk outside. It’s a gloomy day filled with mist, and that motivates me to chip away at some projects and tackle some new ones.
First on the agenda is doing some reviews on Macintosh accessories. It’s a type of writing I’ve done before for MobileMag.com and it’s fun. I have three products to describe and evaluate. Then I’ll likely put the finishing touches on my recap of the first third of the sabbatical.
Then I’ll see what else I can make a dent in before reading some of my mail, paying a few bills and enjoying some downtime sans booze, ribs, loud music, motorcycles and the sun.
Keep reading!
Buzz This Post Tags: adam, Apple, atlanta, booze, george, loud music, milestones, motivation, motorcycles, philosophy, reviews, ribs
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Lately I’ve been doing a tremendous amount of brainstorming. As observers might incorrectly think, brainstorming isn’t just mindless vegetating and time wasting. It’s actually a strenuous process of determining topics, examining the viability of each, and then deciding where and when to pursue story ideas.
If you have a unique brainstorm process, leave it here in the comments.
Mine is usually combined with dining. I bring my notebook with me to breakfast and other meals. Then I just let my mind wander as I look around the restaurant. I create stories about the people around me, the traffic outside, the weather, the topics that are broadcast on the televisions (on a side note, have you noticed how many restaurants now feature TVs on the walls? When did we stop talking to each other? Whoops, there’s another idea!) and anything else that occurs to me.
Right now, I’m in Atlanta and I’m preparing for breakfast and another productive ’storming session. Good luck with yours.
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Buzz This Post Tags: brainstorm, breakfast, ideas, stories, televisions
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Writing the script for podcasts is one of the fun things I get to do as master of my domain – literally. But it’s actually quite easy because when I write my columns for publication, they’re written in a voice that can be easily transferred to the spoken work.
Take, for instance, many of the past episodes of Bowl of Cheese podcast. They frequently feature a transcript that’s nearly word-for-word the written column that sparked my idea for and episode.
This week’s podcast episode – see the transcript here – is all about National Donut Day and Donut Tuesday. I invented the latter about half a dozen years ago and the former came into being in 1938.
This week also marks the first time in 44 episodes that I’ve put out BOC within a week of itself. This will become easier now that I have a rich library of content from which to choose.
You see, writing columns a couple times a week now gives me a ton of possible topics on which to rant. And if you’ve never listened to Bowl of Cheese podcast, it’s only 3-5 minutes of diatribe and humor. You can subscribe at iTunes or via the Bowl of Cheese site.
So, take a moment today to enjoy a donut and a podcast. And have a great weekend.
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Buzz This Post Tags: bowl of cheese, brookstone, columns, donut, donut tuesday, episode 44, freelance writer, humor, Jeff Cutler, national donut day, salvation army, transcript, writer
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Nope, not discussing Google’s tool for spying on people at street-level. I’m actually making a point that face-to-face communication isn’t dead yet.
Today I was walking out of the post office and ran into a former client of mine. This woman ran a boating magazine for years and was adept at covering the marine industry efficiently and completely. In the region, she was respected and revered for her fair reporting and thoroughness.
She told me that she sold the publication and was still doing work for them until they cut their rates and turned the focus of the paper into advetorials and mere PR pieces.
As we went back and forth filling each other in on our career moves, I thought about the journey every writer has traveled in his or her writing journey.
I started penning columns for the Hingham High School paper about 27 years ago. I wrote a regular column and was recognized for my contributions.
Then, in college, I had a regular column for a number years in the Northeastern News. I received an award and some random accolades for those columns.
After that I wrote sports recaps for New England Sports Network, news features and articles for the Mariner chain of weeklies, a bunch of columns for assorted biking publications, and some opinion pieces for a mountain biking member magazine.
But sometimes a path of success has a bump or two in it. 20 months ago I thought that I had finally reached a success launching pad with my own column in the Boston Herald-owned Hingham Journal. I was crafting Writer’s Block pieces for them regularly and getting paid for them.
I saw this as recognition I was worthy of and the door to great things like a desk near Dave Barry’s office, someone on NPR critiquing my work, and dare I say Nobel or Pulitzer. Then the field shifted.
Gatehouse Media took over the chain of weeklies and slashed the budget. My editor was stripped of the ability to pay for quality columnists and the paper started to put in PR-esque blurbs from local business owners. Some columns had the appearance of real journalism, but if you read carefully you could find the agenda.
And I thought all was lost.
But I took pains to maintain my integrity and not give away my writing unless I could see it as a step toward eventual columnist and opinion writer success. That may have started to appear again at Gatehouse.
Just last week – almost a year after I told them I wouldn’t write columns unless they could pay me – I submitted a column to the paper and they snatched it up.
Our agreement doesn’t include paper money or mineral coins, but the exposure assists me in keeping my credentials current and my clips fresh.
So, going back to my marine writer colleague, I empathize with her plight and that of all writers who are faced with giving it away or not working at all.
My advice to her – and to you – is to see what gains you get from having a piece in print and then make a decision. My latest piece at Gatehouse can be viewed at Can you afford not to buy a scooter.
If you do go read it, do me a favor and leave a comment. It will help all writers by making management aware that the columns produced by professionals do create a buzz, get people to think and are worth more than just a byline.
Keep reading!
Buzz This Post Tags: byline, columnist, dave barry, gatehouse, gatehouse media, hingham, hingham journal, hingham mariner, Jeff Cutler, journalist, marine, mariner, scooter
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I hesitate to use the word tornado because of the recent storms that have ripped through the center of our country, and the topic of things of done today pales in comparison to natural disasters. But, I have been productive and here’s a quick recap…
Here’s what I’ve done so far…
Wrote and submitted a column for SavvyAuntie.com.
Wrote a note to Dave Barry and already received a response. I’m planning to ask a few questions about column writing and the path to prominence. So far everything I’ve heard back from the Barry camp has been positive.
In the same vein, I wrote a note to Dan Shaughnessy and Brian McGrory at the Boston Globe. My hope is that they will speak with me briefly about breaking into the ranks of respected and published Globe columnists.
Brainstormed a new story idea for submission to a daily paper.
Got a note from an editor regarding some of my queries.
Ate a jello parfait.
Apart from the demolition of the parfait, my day has been quite productive so far. I hope it continues.
Keep reading!
Buzz This Post Tags: boston globe, brainstorm, Brian McGrory, columnist, commentary, dave barry, jello, newspaper, queries, Savvy Auntie, Shaughnessy
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