A day in the life of a long-form journalist
May 23, 2021 11:47 AM Subscribe
Friendfilter: a friend is working on a piece of fiction in which one of the characters is a feature writer working for a magazine like Atlantic Monthly, writing in-depth, long-form pieces. What does this work look like on a daily basis, eg. would it involve editorial meetings, does the person choose their own subjects, how many pieces would they be expected to produce in a month/year, etc.?
What are normal irritations/concerns? What do writers like this love/hate/fear about their jobs? What does fiction usually get wrong about this type of career in 2021? How lucrative are these jobs, in general and compared to other journalism jobs? Bonus points for any other specifics or quirky bits of knowledge that could add authenticity to the character's situation.
What are normal irritations/concerns? What do writers like this love/hate/fear about their jobs? What does fiction usually get wrong about this type of career in 2021? How lucrative are these jobs, in general and compared to other journalism jobs? Bonus points for any other specifics or quirky bits of knowledge that could add authenticity to the character's situation.
The movie Shattered Glass would probably be helpful to watch.
posted by kevinbelt at 3:33 PM on May 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by kevinbelt at 3:33 PM on May 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
Many long-form non-fiction writers / journalists absolutely hate the self-promotion and social media activity that the job generally requires these days. In the glory days being in a Conde Nast glossy or Rolling Stone sold itself, and your interaction with (potential) reader opinion might have been limited to reading a sheaf of letters to the editor about your story six months after you put it in to edit.
This has been true for a while, but people who publish long-form stories in major markets have Hollywood agents and adaptation option fees are a meaningful chunk of the economic model. (Many more stories get optioned than get produced ... the latter is still a lottery ticket.)
Non-fiction MFAs are becoming a real thing. Not sure if aspiring for faculty gigs has yet become a factor in writers' calculations yet, but it could be fun to write about it.
posted by MattD at 4:26 PM on May 23, 2021 [3 favorites]
This has been true for a while, but people who publish long-form stories in major markets have Hollywood agents and adaptation option fees are a meaningful chunk of the economic model. (Many more stories get optioned than get produced ... the latter is still a lottery ticket.)
Non-fiction MFAs are becoming a real thing. Not sure if aspiring for faculty gigs has yet become a factor in writers' calculations yet, but it could be fun to write about it.
posted by MattD at 4:26 PM on May 23, 2021 [3 favorites]
This will differ widely pub by pub, so I think you don't need to worry about some kind of universal authenticity.
A 10K-word nonfiction piece for the New Yorker, for instance, undergoes a rigorous fact-checking, and might involve a few months or more of work plus several weeks of editing/setting (especially for print). It'll be different at a newer, less traditional pub like N+1 - for instance, they may be more involved editors on the creative side and talk through the piece in monthly check-ins, or avoid drafts altogether and ask for a finished manuscript that they can copy edit. This all changes if you're a salaried staff writer, a freelancer, a frequent contributor, a celebrity etc. As for topics, in my limited experience unless it's news-related, features writers tend to select their own for the most part, but if something is in their wheelhouse the editor(s) may suggest "hey have you considered looking into ___?" or "we'd gladly pay $X for 8,000 words on ___." Very generally speaking I would guess that a feature writer today would want to have something published at least weekly, with big pieces coming out perhaps at a monthly-or-so cadence.
For the purposes of a character in a story who is a staff writer for a magazine, I think what would be most recognizable and realistic would be that the person has a handful of large stories they're working on at any given moment - a deep dive on an industry or person, the history of a political or social issue, things like that. Several more that have been on the back burner, perhaps for years. But they may have more immediate editorial responsibilities, for instance regular shorter contributions on their beat, a column, or helping others edit or sort incoming pieces and pitches. (These are not always things the writer wants to do but are the cost of being on staff.) They'd probably have occasional informal calls and send lots of emails back and forth with editors and other staff.
I don't think this line is particularly lucrative since the pubs that will take big features and really pay the cost of what it takes to write them, like travel for investigation etc, are very few. So it's really competitive, and a few people will be making six figures but most will sell a piece semi-regularly for a few thousand and make their main cash doing more regular work, freelance copywriting or editing, passive income, that sort of thing. I think it's a bit like writing books that way. A feature writer will love what they do but hate that it's hard to make a living that way, and sometimes secretly wish they were pulling a regular paycheck writing up local news or something while writing the big book they've always wanted to about Alexander Graham Bell or whatever.
For annoyances... someone you've interviewed asking to change or adjust a quote after they gave it can be super annoying, because usually they water it down or hedge. I've written things down that people said and they later say, could we change that to so and so. Sometimes assistants or PR will do it on their behalf or ask for a "correction" that's really just a request to make a person or company look better. Having a bad copy editor peck at your work can be irritating (though a good editor is invaluable). Invoice issues, like any other freelancer. Anyone who is slow to respond to email for things that affect a piece will be considered a monster.
Oh, and on daily life... as a freelancer they'll naturally spend some days totally unproductively and then curse themselves for it. But they'll most likely write on the different pieces in bursts — mostly piece A on Monday morning, then a bit of research and writing on B, casual looking up of stuff related to C, then Tuesday finish up B, slack off, do an edit on A after dinner because they feel guilty about not working. Not sure if they're in an actual office, they'll have edit meetings daily.
Hope some of that is helpful! It's not my job exactly but it at least overlaps with my world. I think most of the above will be fine for a fictional writer - plenty to identify with, but the specifics will be different for everyone.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 6:14 PM on May 23, 2021 [5 favorites]
A 10K-word nonfiction piece for the New Yorker, for instance, undergoes a rigorous fact-checking, and might involve a few months or more of work plus several weeks of editing/setting (especially for print). It'll be different at a newer, less traditional pub like N+1 - for instance, they may be more involved editors on the creative side and talk through the piece in monthly check-ins, or avoid drafts altogether and ask for a finished manuscript that they can copy edit. This all changes if you're a salaried staff writer, a freelancer, a frequent contributor, a celebrity etc. As for topics, in my limited experience unless it's news-related, features writers tend to select their own for the most part, but if something is in their wheelhouse the editor(s) may suggest "hey have you considered looking into ___?" or "we'd gladly pay $X for 8,000 words on ___." Very generally speaking I would guess that a feature writer today would want to have something published at least weekly, with big pieces coming out perhaps at a monthly-or-so cadence.
For the purposes of a character in a story who is a staff writer for a magazine, I think what would be most recognizable and realistic would be that the person has a handful of large stories they're working on at any given moment - a deep dive on an industry or person, the history of a political or social issue, things like that. Several more that have been on the back burner, perhaps for years. But they may have more immediate editorial responsibilities, for instance regular shorter contributions on their beat, a column, or helping others edit or sort incoming pieces and pitches. (These are not always things the writer wants to do but are the cost of being on staff.) They'd probably have occasional informal calls and send lots of emails back and forth with editors and other staff.
I don't think this line is particularly lucrative since the pubs that will take big features and really pay the cost of what it takes to write them, like travel for investigation etc, are very few. So it's really competitive, and a few people will be making six figures but most will sell a piece semi-regularly for a few thousand and make their main cash doing more regular work, freelance copywriting or editing, passive income, that sort of thing. I think it's a bit like writing books that way. A feature writer will love what they do but hate that it's hard to make a living that way, and sometimes secretly wish they were pulling a regular paycheck writing up local news or something while writing the big book they've always wanted to about Alexander Graham Bell or whatever.
For annoyances... someone you've interviewed asking to change or adjust a quote after they gave it can be super annoying, because usually they water it down or hedge. I've written things down that people said and they later say, could we change that to so and so. Sometimes assistants or PR will do it on their behalf or ask for a "correction" that's really just a request to make a person or company look better. Having a bad copy editor peck at your work can be irritating (though a good editor is invaluable). Invoice issues, like any other freelancer. Anyone who is slow to respond to email for things that affect a piece will be considered a monster.
Oh, and on daily life... as a freelancer they'll naturally spend some days totally unproductively and then curse themselves for it. But they'll most likely write on the different pieces in bursts — mostly piece A on Monday morning, then a bit of research and writing on B, casual looking up of stuff related to C, then Tuesday finish up B, slack off, do an edit on A after dinner because they feel guilty about not working. Not sure if they're in an actual office, they'll have edit meetings daily.
Hope some of that is helpful! It's not my job exactly but it at least overlaps with my world. I think most of the above will be fine for a fictional writer - plenty to identify with, but the specifics will be different for everyone.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 6:14 PM on May 23, 2021 [5 favorites]
Your friend should listen to a few episodes of the Longform Podcast. They literally cover everything you’re asking about here, in depth, over nearly 500 interviews.
posted by Kreiger at 7:42 PM on May 23, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Kreiger at 7:42 PM on May 23, 2021 [4 favorites]
Came here to recommend the Longform podcast as well.
posted by Bella Donna at 11:59 PM on May 23, 2021
posted by Bella Donna at 11:59 PM on May 23, 2021
Journalist John Mcphee has written extensively about his work as a long form journalist. His book "Draft No. 4" is like catnip about his process (though his situation is probably a little unique).
posted by history is a weapon at 5:36 AM on May 24, 2021
posted by history is a weapon at 5:36 AM on May 24, 2021
There's an amazing interview with Jack Hitt (one of my favorite long-form journalists) that describes his process in detail. An excerpt:
You may also find some good tidbits at Transom -- it's a site for new audio journalists, but it contains a lot of process and industry info about the practice of journalism in general.
posted by ourobouros at 6:04 AM on May 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
So, begin by over-reporting and over-researching everything. If the story involves talking to people, talk to them as long as they will stand to have you around and then talk to them some more. Keep reading. Outline a structure to the piece. Set that aside for now. Realize you don't know enough. Go over all your interviews and research notes again, only this time, make a laundry list of all the great details, large and small, along with the best quotes. Look at that list a lot. Begin the process of re-reading all of your research. Bail out of re-reading all of your research by convincing yourself that what you really need is a long walk to think about "structure." Walk toward your shoes and look at them. Blow off the walk altogether. Descend into a shame spiral. Now, catch up on your HBO tivo'd backlog. After several hours, take another ride on the shame spiral. Lumber over to the desk and go over the interviews again. Make notes of your notes in tiny scrawl so that they can fit on a single sheet of paper. Look at the details. Write down the big ideas that form the superstructure of the piece. Realize you are a pompous git for thinking that ideas have anything to do with it and go back to that list of details. Set it aside. Read some blogs.
The next day, re-read the single sheet of paper with the notes of your notes and wonder, what does this shit even mean?After going through many, many, many more steps, his advice concludes as follows: "Re-read the edited draft and start to feel better. Or, if not, set it aside and then repeat all of the above instructions, only this time, after each step, masturbate."
You may also find some good tidbits at Transom -- it's a site for new audio journalists, but it contains a lot of process and industry info about the practice of journalism in general.
posted by ourobouros at 6:04 AM on May 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
I recommend this essay by Robert Caro.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 2:05 PM on May 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 2:05 PM on May 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks everyone, these answers are all extremely helpful!
posted by rpfields at 5:39 PM on May 25, 2021
posted by rpfields at 5:39 PM on May 25, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
Staff writers for the Atlantic Monthly are listed here. Example staff writer's works are all listed here.
posted by aniola at 2:35 PM on May 23, 2021 [1 favorite]