Hopeful. Ambitious. Stress-ball.
The Good Stuff:
I'm the newest member of the JayTooKru, and I add the national magazine scene to the mix. I'm currently an unpaid intern at a magazine in the heart of NYC. I'm not going to name specifics, but I'll just say that it's been one of my favorites since high school. After two months, I still have to pinch myself. It's not exactly the department that I saw myself working in (beauty) but I'm really enjoying it. (The face that I'm set with shampoo, face wash and makeup for at least a year makes up for the lack of paycheck...sort of.) I've heard that beauty articles tend to be the most read (and therefore the highest paying) so I'm grateful for the experience. More than anything, the connections that I'm making at this internship are invaluable. I spent a year at a regional magazine, which is nothing like the hectic and fast-paced national scene. Hopefully my experiences will help future magazine interns know what to expect.
As for my future, I see myself as having a few years of stressful, long hours at a national magazine, and then quitting to have children and freelance. Hopefully I'll find the time to travel and write books. I don't see myself as living in the City forever (right now I'm in Brooklyn) but for now it works. By nature I tend to be a little high-strung and a bit of a work-a-holic, but only when provoked. I'd rather lead a low-key, quiet life -- just my family, friends and word processor. Maybe I could live a glamorous life in the City That Never Sleeps, but I wouldn't be content. At the end of the day, I just want to be a writer. But magazines are fun and I'd love to spend a few years making connections in the industry. I'll be graduating in May so we'll see where it takes me...
My Writing
I always saw myself as traveling for investigative pieces, telling people's untold stories and well, changing the world. I'll still keep that dream alive.
I'm enamored with the elements of language and writing. Story structure, word choice and character development are crucial. Conventionality bores me. More than anything I look at writing as art; Writers can delicately compose a story by making every word, every punctuation, deliberate.
Writing is also a powerful tool for social, political and personal change. Reading permeates your thoughts, becoming a part of your identity in a way that television scenes can't. So much of what I recall on a day-to-say basis are from things I've read. That's what I hope to accomplish one day.
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