It’s not unusual for me to sit in front of the computer for hours and contemplate what to write. My attention jumps from the point I am trying to make, to what song is next on my playlist, to an itch on my right foot … and then back to the initial reason I sat down in the first place. Then comes Joan Didion’s essay, “Why I Write.” It’s a second-hand title from George Orwell, who initially mused about why he became a writer, but I always refer to Didion’s perspective. She goes on to explain what she thinks being a writer is:

“By which I mean not a "good" writer or a "bad" writer but simply a writer, a person who’s most absorbed and passionate hours are spent arranging words on pieces of paper.”

I keep this essay bookmarked in my browser for those days (about seven per week) when I sit down to write and end up just staring at my cursor as it blinks … slowly … like a ticking clock … taunting me to write that first opening sentence. The essay reminds me that writing is not about perfecting the art of spelling or mastering grammar. Writing is the ability to put words in a logical and cohesive order. Some people are very clear, some are very creative, some are just plain awful, but each and every writer brings a different organization of words to the page, and no two writers are the same. That, in my opinion, is what makes writing so fascinating and is partly why I love it so much.

I was reading through some Studio articles and noticed that we have titles that are very similar (and by very similar I mean identical), and the content in each and every one was absolutely unique. Part of it is because we require it, but part of it is that each writer carries and maintains an authentic voice. I honestly think that is the greatest proof of quality. When you think about how your articles are rated, what that means and what a “5” article compared to a “3” article looks like, it is important to remember that even though we have strict guidelines and formats that may dilute the creative structure of the article, it does not—and should not—offset the authenticity of your voice and writing style. 

I can’t wait to provide better examples of “5”-rated articles in the Resource Center. In my opinion though, an article you should be proud of, “5” or not, is one that you read, and—no matter how stringent the guidelines are—your voice still carries out. That is the most powerful thing a writer can do, and it is tremendously impressive when you see it done right.

This afternoon, my fellow Studio editor Sarah and I ventured into Borders on our afternoon break so I could grab an interior-design magazine. As we walked toward the magazine section, I recalled the days when I’d wander into a magazine section in a bookstore and flip to the editor’s page. I was probably a freshman in high school back then, and I had just started considering becoming a writer/editor. I loved studying those pages in the front of the big magazines that said “A Note From the Editor” and then were signed by the editor-in-chief. I wanted to have my own page like that some day.

Well, I haven’t been the editor-in-chief of a magazine, but I did go on to get a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism, and I have been an editor for a couple of them. I’ve learned I love editing. Words can be beautiful. Sometimes they require a little twisting, trimming and fine-tuning to be beautiful, and I love working with them until they become that piece of art.

However, while the written word will always exist in some form, it increasingly seems as though print journalism may not. I’ll admit it—this worries me. The die-hard, trained journalist in me mourns the potential losses of the many great newspapers and magazines that may get (or already are) lost in society’s transition to new media. I worry that we’ll lose the beauty of words in exchange for fast-paced, unedited, unsubstantiated citizen journalism.

This is just one of the reasons I’m so excited to be a part of Demand Studios. We’ve taken most of the great aspects of the print-journalism process and combined them with the strongest qualities of new media. We operate at a fast pace, but the information we publish is substantial and verified by qualified copy editors. Our articles are easy to discover online, but they’re found on high-quality authoritative websites of which we can be proud.

So, it has been with excitement for the future of opportunities in new media that I’ve slowly drifted away from my old dream of having an editor’s page of a big magazine. My byline appears in them from time to time, and that’s good enough. My writing appears all over the Internet, and far more people have access to the Internet than they do print issues of various magazines.

We all know we are at the forefront of a huge transformation in media, and I’m excited to be a part of ensuring it maintains journalistic integrity, high quality and, most of all, beauty.

For example, if you were writing an About article titled "Low Carb Snack Foods," we DO NOT want a list of low carb snack foods and corresponding descriptions. The types of snacks can comprise one subhead and section, but we are looking for a multifaceted article covering different angles of the title. For instance, you might explain the significance of choosing low carb snacks, misconceptions people may have about low carb snacks, benefits of including low card snack items to your diet, ways to identify a snack that is low carb, etc. While we don't require that you use our suggested subheads, they can be useful to help shape your article.

We really do listen to you. The success of Demand Studios is dependent upon the talent of the creators who work for us.

And in order to be able to hear the voices of our writers, copy editors, title proofers and filmmakers, we held the Demand Studios Creator Conference a couple weeks ago. In an event we hope will continue annually, we flew 20 of our top Studio creators to L.A. We told them more about Demand Studios and its parent company, Demand Media. We explained to them more about the vision of the Studio and that we see our fabulous creators as our most valuable assets. But most importantly, we listened.

They spoke on your behalf. They asked questions, told us about their experiences with DS and let us know how they think we can improve. They told us how difficult it can be for them to find titles they’re interested in writing. They gave us their ideas for how to improve the forums.

Let’s just say we learned a lot. We learned about issues we hadn’t thought of before and issues we’ve thought of many times. And in the weeks since we’ve had meetings and discussions all centered around the great feedback we received from your representation.

Oh yeah, and we had a ton of fun, too! It was so great getting to know some of you in person. We had the opportunity to have several meals with the creators, which provided us with entertaining conversations, stories and a general sense of camaraderie with some pretty great people. One night, we even hosted a mixer at a bar down the road from the hotel where we hung out and listened to a great local band, GOAT. Later in the evening, we were treated to the vocal stylings of our own marketing guru, Mike Cowan, who is also the star and innovator behind our Join the Band music video.

We were a little busy furiously answering HelpDesk tickets and emails during every spare moment, so we were unable to take any pictures. However, thanks to Deb Ng, founder of FreelanceWritingGigs.com, we have a slideshow available for you on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/demandjessyca/3991767732/. Check it out!

Also, please feel free to go to Deb’s fantastic blog post about her experience at the event here: http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/2009/09/greetings-from-the-demand-studios-creator-conference/

Keep up the great work, and maybe you’ll be here in sunny Santa Monica with us for the Creator Conference next year!

Happy writing!

As a part of Demand Studios’ ongoing commitment to rewarding our top talent with valuable resources and opportunities to help advance their writing careers, 100 DS writers have been chosen to receive an all-expenses-paid membership to the Society of Professional Journalists for one full year. They were chosen to receive this award because of their long tenure at Demand Studios and because of their consistent level of high-quality work.

We hope they find value in their new SPJ membership which includes useful benefits like:

·         Professional Development: Access to national and regional journalism conventions, exclusive media-related job opportunities and awards

·         Local Connections:  Networking with other professionals in print, broadcast, online, freelance and trade publications

·         Industry News and Information: Subscriptions to high-quality publications such as Quill Magazine, PressNotes, SPJ Leads, Open Doors and the Geneva Conventions Reference Guide

Hello All,

We have been reading the forums and your individual blogs to find out what you like the most about working for Demand Studios. One of the factors that kept coming up was how much you enjoy the weekly payments. Many of us started off as freelancers and know how much of a hassle it can be to wait a long time to receive payments from publishers. This will never be something you have to worry about at Demand Studios, and to prove it we’re going to start paying you twice a week! Starting September 29, you will get paid on Tuesdays and Fridays.

We’re hoping this will please our weekend warriors who might not have time to write much during the week.

Here is what the new pay schedule will look like:

All articles approved between Thursday and 11.59 p.m. PST Sundays will be paid out on Tuesdays.

All articles approved between Monday and 11.59 p.m. PST Wednesdays will be paid out on Fridays as usual.

Let us know what you think in the forums!

Johan

Editor’s note: We will be featuring blog entries from our own creators from time to time. This installment is from Carolyn Williams on the changing role of the Demand Studios copy editors.

It’s been intriguing, watching Demand Studios grow, and as a veteran Copy Editor (CE) as well as an active member of the writing community, I get to participate in and observe both sides of the publication process. Back in the day when eHow was first created, the CE had a simple role: to check that semi-colons and other grammatical issues were correct. As Demand Studios has grown, so has the role of the CE. Now, rather than simply ensuring that grammar is acceptable, we team with the writers to ensure that the published content provides valuable, insightful, helpful advice to our readers. And we provide a simple logic check for much of that advice. After all, if you’re unstopping your sink, you don’t particularly care if the commas are all there. But you care an awful lot if “Step 2: Put a bucket under the sink to catch the water when you release the trap” is missing. Grammar issues that crop up repeatedly might be noted to the writer to avoid in future. But it’s much more time-efficient for fixes of that nature to be done by your friendly, neighborhood (okay, Internet-enabled) CE. As a CE, as you don’t get paid until the article is rewritten and comes back to your queue a second time. For simple grammar fixes, going in and fixing them is your best bet to getting paid. Larger issues get sent back to the writer.

That, in short, encapsulates how the CE job has evolved. We care as much as the writers do about the integrity of the information published on our many and varied sites. And we care for a very specific reason: job security. If our sites publish information that isn’t good, useful, well written, helpful and on task, then we’ve failed as a publishing team. Readers won’t click on our site to get information if they don’t think what we publish is useful. It becomes, then, a swirling drain. No readers, no new content to publish, no new articles to review, no editing work.

There’s a natural dissonance between the CE team and the writing team; that’s healthy, normal and part of the business of writing. We love the language, we love writing. We’re always working toward stronger, better content with the end goal of providing usable, good quality information that our readers can embrace.  There are natural bumps in the road for this 21st-century publishing business model we’re all using; development issues, technical errors, learning curves, dynamic style guides. That’s part of the environment. You either roll with it, or move to an environment that is more appropriate to your particular skills and needs. This is true for both writers and editors.

We’re all in this together, this new, modern publishing process. We deeply appreciate using and understanding the Style Guides. We’ll shepherd the content to publication wherever possible. And we'll team with the writers to make our sites increasingly helpful, useful, authoritative, well written and of high quality.

Freelancewritinggigs.com, otherwise known as Freelance Writing Jobs (FWJ), created by freelance writer, professional blogger and social media consultant Deb Ng is an essential piece of any freelance writer’s puzzle to not only find work, but connect with a writer community that offers lively discussion, tips and advice for the hard knock life of writing for a living.

With job leads posted every day and categorized into sections such as copywriting, blogging and freelance reporting positions, the FWJ network essentially cuts down the time you might spend on scouring job boards and allows you to focus your attention on acquiring positions instead of just searching for them.

The site also offers job hunting tips such as figuring out how full your freelancing plate is and why targeted job searches work best.  The advice also extends to actual writing as well, including such information about plagiarism and making sure your query gets to the right editor.

Taking in all the important aspects of FWJ to a freelance writer’s career, we are excited to announce that Demand Studios and FWJ have joined forces – you can read about the partnership on FWJ here!