dear ilx agony aunt

if he asked you to continue, do so. he'd have no particular reason to be "nice" that I can see..

(note: i'm assuming a lot about music editors of big magazines)

yeah, i from my own limited experience with editors, i thought he had no reason to be nice as well...

i mean, i go on about paul lester but truth be told - i had no clue had to write the small dinky reviews that uncut does. i am more clued up about that - and around that time - there was extinuating personal circumstances which makes me go all moody.

the other magazines i write for - they arent mean or anything - i just sometimes face a wall of silence - considering that they are probably busy and a freelancer is not a top priority.

the other experience i have is with everett ... he's nice but at the same time - if i'm not pulling my weight he tells me to rewrite - which is cool....

i do have something (insider news) on the shaggs which i might pitch but i have to research it a bit more.

When I was an editor (not in the music world) I wouldn't encourage anyone that I thought I wouldn't use. It takes time to read proposals and submissions and write back, and I don't want to keep wasting my time if someone is a non-starter. I can't guess what your odds might be without seeing the exact words the editor uses, but you can - and there is certainly a real chance.

Doom E/Sonny - If he suggested you continue approaching him, you must have sparked some interest in him, as the last thing any editor wants is more unsolicited submissions.

Some of your comments above confirm what I thought from your postings on the Bang thread - that you're insecure about your writing. Simple ground rule: if your stuff is printed, and continues to be printed, then your editors are happy with it (90% of the time, anyway, overlooking occasions when they don't have any other option but to run with a commissioned piece), and you should be too. Unless you feel the editor/ the magazine is compromised in some way, and that they'd print anything, however substandard.

It's very simple: If you're unhappy with something you've written, make sure you're happy with the next piece. Worrying unecessarily about your output is not healthy, nor is a constant search for approval. More importantly, don't confuse your FEELINGS about your writing with the writing itself - as I've said elsewhere, it's the product, not the process that matters, which includes your mood at the time of writing. That may have a detrimental effect on the quality of the piece, but equally it might not, and it's folly to attach any importance to it. Learn to trust your own opinion.

It's the only one worth listening to.

Doomie, by all means carry on pitching to him. It will give you an idea of what his likes and dislikes are - which you can research anyway in the interim - and he says he's interested, so take him at his word. Start trying to read between the lines of your interactions with editors and THAT WAY MADNESS LIES. Hit him again with five good ideas in a week, clue yourself up on what he's done himself, and you should have a commission at the end of it.

Doom-e. I can only reinforce what's been stated already. If the editor has asked you to pitch ideas, that means he wants you to pitch ideas. Whether he's nice or not, or genuine or not, doesn't matter, ultimately...

(Paid) freelance writing is 95% chasing work, 5% doing the actual work - and that means there's a fuck of a lot of rejection involved. Which is why I do barely any paid work any more.

Make your ideas coherent (ie: don't send them out at random) - as Suzy says, get about five good ideas together per week, give them each a clear, concise paragraph of explanation, and send them out altogether. Once. If you hear nothing after a few days (and there can be ANY number of reasons for that, so don't start getting paranoid someone's ignoring you) then send a reminder chasing the ideas up.

You can always pitch other magazines with the same ideas.

And please don't start using me as a yardstick to judge other editors against... I can afford to be nice (usually). I don't have deadlines or sales pressures or shit.

Thanks, I really have no clue with this freelancing stuff. I've only lucked out with a few magazines that involved no pitching - just work being offered. As for insecurity and paranoia:

"They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra, just for you."

Larkin says it all. It's not about my writing, really. This insecurity and paranoia of myself. It's ingrained in my persona. But hey, I did nothing for two weeks but sort myself out after a bad start to the year.

But thanks - I want to get the finesse of pitching done, correctly.

PS Jerry - yer not a yardstick for me, don't worry.

Tis funny in university - my professor was in love with my writing but offered a stern warning of a very similar type - i.e. I will destroy myself before I actaully put pen-to-paper and publish if I continue my life the way I had been. Next week I dropped out of University and went South to hang out in factories and watch people shoot speed in apartments that smelled of baby shit.

So, 8 years later I am proving him wrong! Hooray!

I should drop him a note!

something of the lines of IN YER FACE! or maybe not... : - D

"That way madness lies."

True words, true words doome. Bear them in mind. Your lecturer had a point, and clearly had your best interests at heart.

the funny thing was - when i recently quit my job, last month, i was *encouraged* by everyone to do absolutely nothing for a few weeks. i did and somehow it made life clearer and brighter than it had been n years.

Sounds you push yourself too hard, doome, a problem I've always had. Make sure you "do nothing" more regularly.

Have you tried doing nothing? It's virtually impossible.

It's only manageable if you sleep in till about 8pm or so, which is hard in itself.

And here I thought this thread was going to be about sex. But it's just another "fwah fwah fwah" boring music journalist going on about their "craft". Can we have some kinky sex problems please? That's what agony aunts are for.

I have been TOLD off-board to apologise for my post above. Doomie, you know me, and you know the spirit in which the post was written and I apologise for not softening my joshing with a winkieface or something.

And I apologise to music journalists everywhere for not taking their craft seriously enough. God forbid that anyone's feelings should have been hurt.

If you wonder why I am feeling slightly bitter and jaded about music journalism, then wonder no further and just go here:

The World Has A Stinking Go At Fiona