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Become a Serial Specialist

When you're just starting out, it's worth considering what subject areas you want to work on the most, and trying to build up your credits in those areas instead of just pulling ideas from all over the map.

~ JENNA GLATZER, EXPECTING

At some point in your writing career, the question is bound to arise: Should you specialize or generalize? I have noticed over the years that the differences between the two approaches are not so black and white. Let's examine them.

What's a Specialist?

As a specialist, you concentrate your publishing efforts on filling a specific niche, or you target a particular market, such as pets, health, or obscure holidays. By offering your services to one market over and over, you reduce the amount of preparation and research you need to do with each approach. For example, if you tend to write for home, garden, and décor publications, you must still go through the usual preparation before writing your articles, but by the time you get to the execution stage, you have a distinct advantage: You understand the subtleties of editor preferences in home, garden, and décor publications. You are familiar with the jargon, the typical article formats, and what readers want to know and don't want to know. In this regard, a little specializing can go a long way in saving you time and effort; plus, you may achieve a higher per-word rate and receive repeat assignments.

What's a Generalist?

If you are a generalist, you pride yourself on the ability to write in a lively, engaging manner about any topic, for various audiences or a general audience. You will write for any market — women's or men's, home or travel, science or romance — but mostly for those that pay well or have assignments available when you need them. Editors appreciate your flexibility and, often, your ability to produce the type of article they need on a deadline. I once even encountered a generalist who never wrote for the same editor or publication twice. And yet she published national articles consistently. The drawbacks of being a generalist echo the advantages of specializing, only in reverse: You spend more time on research before writing and more time gaining familiarity with language, tone, and audience — and not necessarily for more money. However, flexibility cuts down on the dreaded lag time between assignments and keeps you busy. But before you become a good generalist you need to establish a track record as a writer who can translate any topic into readable prose.

illustration The New PMS — Professional Mission Statement

Whether you aspire to work with the editor of a local publication or the executive editor of a national consumer magazine, the drill is the same: When you focus on the positive attributes you bring to the editorial table, you will steer clear of anxiety and awkwardness and present yourself as the professional you are. With your future editors' needs in mind, create your own Professional Mission Statement and post it where you will see it while you work. Your PMS will separate you from the crowd of wannabes and put you in a class of attractive candidates for recurring assignments.

I will strive to bring the following to every editor to whom I pitch or submit my work:

illustration Tools Writer Mamas Can't Function Without

Specialize Now, Generalize Later

Many successful writer moms specialize and generalize, depending on what's called for under the circumstances. However, at the beginning of your career, you will definitely benefit from considering the strongest cards in your hand and learning how, when, and where to most strategically play them. Kelly James-Enger, author of Ready, Aim, Specialize!: Create Your Own Writing Specialty and Make More Money, started her writing career by writing for any type of market she could get her hands on. Over time, however, she realized that focusing on a handful of topics would save time and energy. Based on her past interests, she chose health, fitness, nutrition, and relationships and began specializing. She quickly noticed a major increase in her income; even magazines she was already writing for increased her per-word rate. Kelly's book details the following specialties:

Health

Diet, Nutrition, and Food

Business and Finance

Technology

Parenting

Travel

Fitness and Sports

Essays and Personal Pieces

Home and Garden

Profiles and True-Life Features

As you can see, these specialties are mostly topics. Essays and Personal Pieces and Profiles and True-Life Features, on the other hand, are on this list because they are forms of writing that appear in most publications. So if you have a knack for essays or profiles, you could keep busy by writing those forms repeatedly for a variety of target markets.

Most writers work in several specialties at one time, jumping from specialty to specialty regularly, or they develop one specialty after another, becoming serial specialists. Authors of nonfiction books often hook article writing to the caboose of their latest books to generate article sales and garner interest for their book. And freelancers may work in spurts for certain editors, on certain topics, or for certain types of articles. For example, if an editor likes your profiles, she may send you regular assignments or contact you to see if you have any more articles. So when it comes to specializing, stay loose, experiment, and see how it goes. Don't be afraid to choose a specialty you think you can get plenty of wear out of. But if you or your specialty get tired, feel free to walk away for a while and work on something different. Here are several paths that can help you recognize a specialty you may not even know you have:

  1. Background. Your professional background, education, or training are good indicators of a future specialty, assuming the topic is one you are interested in exploring further. For example, I have a M.F.A. in writing, so I often draw on what I practiced in graduate school and have learned since then in my writing and teaching.

  2. Challenges. I know three authors who have turned health problems, such as panic disorder or bipolar disorder, into columns, articles, and book deals. Insights gained from your life challenges can benefit others and provide you with a great place to start writing. (Note: Writers without medical credentials should conduct extensive interviews or coauthor with medical professionals.) And health challenges are certainly not the only obstacles folks have. My students have written about getting out of debt, getting dogs with muddy paws to clean their own feet, even how to motivate friends and family to respond with more sensitivity to families who have just brought home a newborn baby.

  3. Preferred Writing Form. Your strongest and most satisfying skill set can be used repeatedly on a variety of topics and audiences. For example, I've found that I prefer the more interview-intensive process of profile writing to the more research-intensive process of general feature writing, so the bulk of my assignments are profiles. While the writing-skill set in which you specialize will need to match an editor's needs, there's a lot of leeway here.

  4. Hobbies. Topics that strongly capture your interest or imagination are good choices for a specialty. My decorating skills are beginner level at best, but I love writing for home décor magazines and interviewing skillful decorators. (As a bonus, my surroundings usually benefit from a little surge of inspiration afterwards!) Remember: Your personal interests are the springboard, not the destination. Even if you have a certain amount of expertise, you might want to start by focusing on another enthusiast and write a profile — your own knowledge and personal experience will shine through.

  5. Interests. What topic do you never tire of? Ask yourself what fascinates you and see if you can make a connection through writing. You might find two complementary paths that feed each other and help distinguish you from the crowd. For example, Bev Walton-Porter combined her two interests in writing and astrology and wrote Sun Signs for Writers. What would two or more of your interests add up to? I bet there's some good material to be found in the joining.

Strike a balance, as much as possible, between personal satisfaction and your specialties. What would you enjoy doing anyway, even if you weren't getting paid? Somewhere in the answer to that question is probably something you are a natural at.

Think of the first year of your writing career as a grand experiment: Try some different possibilities before you narrow down your options. If a project grabs your attention or you think you might gain good, solid professional experience, jump on it! If you try one specialty — say parenting articles — only to discover you don't enjoy writing them, you can always reassess and try again. That's the beauty of a freelance writing career. You always have options, and you control the direction, so choose!

exercise

Five Ways You Can Specialize

Use the list below to brainstorm the intersection between your most satisfying specialties and the current publishing marketplace. Opportunities might appear on the horizon sooner than you expect, so try to keep an open mind. List your top three possibilities for each specialty idea. Then circle the one you think has the most potential in today's marketplace. Those are the specialties to consider next.

  1. Expertise You Already Have: Professional Background, Education, and Training

  2. Personal Experience: Life Challenges You Have Faced

  3. Preferred Writing Form

  4. Hobbies: Topics That Strongly Capture Your Interest or Imagination

  5. Your Tireless Topic: The Topic You Are Always Writing or Talking About

The Possibility of Childcare

To use childcare or not to use childcare: That is definitely a good question! Chances are good, when you get to a certain point in your writing career, you'll be ready to consider childcare options so you can expand your hours or work more efficiently.

For some moms, however, the mere mention of the word “childcare” can be disconcerting. I felt that way for the first couple years of motherhood. But in retrospect, I was using some forms of childcare right from the early days: I just didn't call it that. By the time I was ready for more formal childcare, I had enough regular work to justify the cost, and both my daughter and I were ready.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed at the prospect of finding high-quality childcare. But the payoff in peace of mind is worth the effort it takes to choose the routine that works for you and your family. Just remember, you have plenty of options, and you never have to settle for anything less than satisfactory for you and your kids. Here are a few things to consider as you progress in your writing career:

YOUR OPTIONS ARE MANY

The beauty of childcare is that it can be customized to suit your needs. Consider which of these choices might work best for you, if and when you are ready:

When Diana Burrell's son was almost three, she found her writing plate full with contracted projects, so she and her husband hired an au pair from Germany. The summer before, she had had a babysitter come into her home for fifteen to twenty hours a week. Other writing moms echoed Burrell's pattern of starting with in-home childcare when their babies were small, increasing hours as needed, and then pursuing other options once babies became toddlers.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST PROVIDERS BEFORE YOU'RE READY

Research and compare available childcare options before you need them. Check local newspaper ads, call friends, and check library or church bulletin boards for possibilities. Most daycare centers have rhythms and rules children must adapt to, so find out what those are and make sure they work for you — at least in theory — before you make a commitment. You can search the Internet for childcare provider interview checklists, then whip up a customized list of questions according to your needs. Down the road, if you do decide to use childcare, you'll feel better because you've done your homework.

THE ONLY SURE THING IS CHANGE

Writing professionally has a lot of starts and stops, especially in the beginning. So it's especially nice to find a childcare provider who can roll with your flow. I change Samantha's hours at childcare almost as often as I reload my printer paper, and I'm fortunate to have found a woman with twenty years' experience who runs a tight ship, lets the kids be kids, and doesn't care what time I drop Samantha off and pick her up.

Try to find a provider who will let you start with the hours that are financially manageable for you in the short run and who will allow you to expand your hours as your workload and income grow. If you are a writing mom, investing in high-quality childcare is probably the largest and most important reinvestment in your business. If you know your children are well cared for, you will be productive and happy and make more money.

CHOOSING NOT TO USE CHILDCARE

When her two children were young, writer mama Sharon Cindrich says dealing with a childcare provider was more trouble than it was worth. So she went back to writing in the nooks and crannies until her kids were old enough that they didn't need her constant attention. Of course, if you want to wait until your child is older to use childcare, or if you choose not to use childcare at all, there are plenty of alternatives, such as trading off time with your spouse, friends, and other family members so you'll have more time to write. And you can probably write plenty of tips, list articles, how-to articles, and fillers with the time you can scrape together.

HOW TO WORK WITH KIDS UNDERFOOT

If you decide not to use childcare, here are some ideas for squeezing more writing time into your busy day without anybody missing a beat:

Take a ride. Strap your kids into a stroller or car seat and take a walk or a drive. Make sure you bring your journal and a pen along — they might be entertained enough by the change of scenery for you to grab a few minutes to jot down a few thoughts on a notecard. And you never know — they might even fall asleep and then you can park and write!

Milk a library visit. If your kids like to read, go to story time, or play with library-provided toys, you can often squeeze a lot of words out of even a short visit. Sit nearby or let them play right at your feet and see what you can accomplish. Better yet, make library visits a regular part of your routine, and the kids will get used to having “quiet time” while mommy gets some “writing time.”

Visit kiddie coffee shops. Take your little ones to a child-friendly coffee shop, if you have one nearby. But it works best if your kids are old enough to entertain themselves and get along well with other children. Otherwise, you may not get any writing done, but at least everyone will have a good time. And while you're there, poll some other parents on ideas you've been cultivating. The local joint with the basket of kids' toys can provide entertainment for your kids even if no one else is around.

Make it a regular playdate. Have a regular writing/play date with another writer mama or invite several as part of a Writer Mama Circle. You can hire a college or high-school student to watch the kids in one room while you all write in another, or see what you can do sitting right there on the floor in the same room alongside the kids. As a last resort, one mom could watch the kids while the other writes from a quieter distance, and then switch places.

Go duo. Work on assignments together. A friend and I got a bite from an editor at a national parenting publication by working in tandem on our queries. Consider whether working with a writing/marketing buddy would forward both your causes. Take turns targeting and pitching while the other mama plays the role of test reader, proofreader, and deadline keeper.

Just like Mommy. Set up a table and chair in your office area so your little ones can “work just like Mommy.” This works best if you are just doing busy work or don't need 100 percent focus on what you're doing: answering e-mail, updating your Rolodex, or tidying and filing.