Squeeeezing Friday for all its worth
Oh, hi friends!
Well, here we are. Another Friday.
I told you it would go fast. (So smug—sorry.)
Did you do what needed to get done?
I’m writing this newsletter on the subway, by the way. I brought my laptop on the train when I was working at the conference a few weeks ago and wrote a piece during the subway ride and found it strangely calming. (Not during rush hour—that’s madness.)
Without WiFi, and with a clear destination (I’m getting off in 17 minutes, give or take a delay), I’m suddenly completely focused.
It’s a good reminder to consider unorthodox solutions. And to value these little pockets of time. And that I might be able to squeeze just a little bit more out of the week, whether on the train or working on my couch. Knowing I gave it my best shot always makes me feel better on a Saturday. Makes the week feel complete.
So let’s try to squeeeeeze just a tiny bit more juice out of today, OK?
Flashback Friday: That time five years ago when I hiked the "wild" section of the Great Wall of China (that insane steep overgrown mountain behind me x 1,000) and barely lived through it. LOL WHAT EVEN IS LIFE.
“I'm always shocked, frankly, at how editors really don't pay much attention to the writers at all. Writers will write for somebody for very little money, as they did for me at the [Daily] Beast, if they get a response. If they get a note back saying: 'Fantastic piece. Can you just make the top this, and I suggest you change the middle to this?’ Boom, they love it.
They want response, and they want to feel that they've found a home. Most of the time today, people just write pieces, and there's no real response. It just posts. Nobody really says anything. They don't even know that it was liked or not liked. But there's no real sense that anybody cares, frankly, that you're there out there. I think that is the major mistake that people make. Keeping your talent happy, keeping your talent there, is really the major function of an editor, and it's the major thing you have to learn how to do.”
That’s from my former boss Tina Brown, whose writers have followed her for decades.
But her advice is 100 percent true and absolutely essential if you’re an editor, or a writer who’s stuck writing for people who “post” your work with zero feedback. (I have written stories, watched them post, gotten paid, and never heard a single word from an editor.) That doesn't help you grow or develop your craft. I will walk to the ends of the earth for the editors I trust. So find people who want to make your stories better. Find people who will read your stories. And hang on to them forever.
Felt a little bit like I was losing my mind this week, but I rallied! This Sondheim medley helped.
Writers often ask each other, How do you find good ideas? Here’s one way: Instagram. (h/t Angelica Frey) This helpful how-to on finding ideas was sparked by a NYT reporter doing a deep dive on fishing influencers, a topic that would make Suze Orman proud. (I wrote about Suze’s obsession with fishing in the Bahamas for MONEY last year.)
I’ve also been inspired by people I’ve found on Instagram, like this fascinating guy known as the Balance Guru whose videos on him balancing on shopping carts and stacked up dumbbells are mesmerizing. The short of it is: If you find something interesting, there's a good chance an editor will, too.
Is anyone hiring or does anyone need help with their photography business or with photobook publishing? My talented friend Erika Morillo is looking for new opportunities—please email her at Erika.Morillo@gmail.com! (We met in Droga5's advertising class and she's the best collaborator one could hope for.)
And I can’t wait for this!!! My friend Will Doig is releasing his first book, High-Speed Empire: Chinese Expansion and the Future of Southeast Asia. He traveled the length of a new railway China is attempting to build from its southern border to the tip of the Southeast Asian peninsula, stumbling along an abandoned casino town in the remote Lao jungle to brand-new Chinese cities rising from artificial islands off the coast of Malaysia. BUT DID HE HIKE THE GREAT WALL?! Just kidding. He did much more than that. He's such a wonderful writer. Pre-order his book now!
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Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara