Writers' Routines: Ned Hepburn

Jan 21, 2012
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Ned Hepburn

Ned Hepburn has worked with/for Interview, Black Book, Vice, MTV news, Thought Catalog, Bust, National Geographic Channel. I wrote to him and asked how he got started as a freelance writer and what’s his writing routine. He wrote back to me!

“Right now, not many people are paying for writing, which is terrible. But the doors are wide open, as long as you don’t mind the shitty pay. It really is just about getting that first step. Once you have a few articles online, you can then start emailing editors “hey, my name is ____, I have this and this online, I’d love to pitch you these ideas”, etc.

I’ve just been very, very persistent in emailing people. A couple days ago I sent out, what, 20 emails? To pitch one article. And two people replied. One person said no. The other said maybe. It is what it is. You need a thick skin. And probably another source of income. It’s a persistence game….Learn how to write shorter emails, too. Editors don’t have time to read a 350-word pitch.

I used to think it was incredibly romantic to write into the wee hours of the night, often while drinking, because that’s what I thought my heroes (Thompson and Hemingway in particular) did. But I started writing in the morning, with breakfast (toast, fruit, coffee), and I found that was when I had the clearest thoughts. A lot of it has to do with timing, finding out what time of the day works best for you.

Just get in there and do it. You’ll mess up, and by the nature of the job, you’ll mess up in front of people. But that’s half the fun. Laugh it off and try again. Never stop trying.

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