Copywriting vs. Journalism

Back home in Phoenix, yes here in sunny Arizona, I’m currently writing copy at NextStudent. It’s a lot different from reporting and writing for magazines and newspapers. I needed a change after many years in journalism and turned to copywriting for the student loan funding company.

At NextStudent, I work with a team of highly qualified copywriters from different work backgrounds. Some were journalists and some did work in marketing or advertisting. Bringing us together to form the copywriting team at NextStudent was a great idea. There’s now a combined effort of different types of writing styles that blend well together. We’re all able to brainstorm and bring forth different ideas and ways of creating important copy to bring it to students and parents looking to fund a college education.

Speaking of college education, to me there’s nothing more important. In this day and age a college education helps in so many varied ways. It allows people to open their minds to new ideas, to learn new subjects, and to basically expand their horizons. It also helps people in the job market.

So my work here at NextStudent truly is different from previous writing and editing positions I had in New York. The deadlines are there, but different. The topic is different and geared toward a different audience: people looking to get to college, which is a good thing. And I get to work with others in a cool and oftentimes fun environment. I also don’t have to work until the wee hours of the morning, and that’s a huge plus.

No Respect on the Copy Desk

After working in New York at a publishing company as an editorial assistant for about six months, I finally was promoted to working on the copy desk, sometimes a thankless job. I learned so much though. I was eager to learn and find out the ins and outs of the world of the reporters, writers and editors. But I got more than I bargained for, which was a big plus. I learned how the magazine got put together: from story starts, art and layout to closing each issue and sending it to the printer.

I met everyone in just about every necessary department: editorial, art, production and sales. And by copyediting everyone’s work, I learned what to do and what NOT to do when writing my own stuff. It was a fabulous learning experience.

The problem was, and still is in many instances, that when you worked on the copy desk, oftentimes you were seen as low man on the totem pole. The reason: I’m not quite sure, especially since the people on the copy desk are extremely important for many reasons.

The copy desk employees make sure the stories are readable and make sense. There are great writers who can’t spell, and there are wonderful reporters who can’t put a story together to save their lives. The copy editor oftentimes saves them and their stories.

A good copy editor typically is a whiz at English grammar and can “fix” a train wreck of a story and make it look like great prose. Or that person can take a good story and make it better. This person also can help cut a story or lengthen one to fit the space alloted for it on a page. The people on the copy desk will lay out the story, add some relevant, cool or funky art to go with it, and then write a snappy, catchy headline.

Let’s not forget research. These overworked and underpaid workers also research facts and check to make sure words, people’s names and titles are correct. And they do it all under tight deadline pressure, only to be looked upon as underlings. However, if these people didn’t exist, newspapers and magazines and the like would be filled with a lot of gibberish and unprofessional looking pages.

So, let’s hear it for copy editors and the copy desk. These folks put in a lot of hard work, stay late, and don’t hear enough thank yous for helping all those writers and reporters look good!

Getting Around Town in New York City

Well, my words got around in New York, but how did I, and others who live there, get around and navigate throughout the city?

New York City, specifically the island of Manhattan, is a world unto itself. If you live there, you never have to leave; everything is right there at your fingertips. And getting from one place to another basically is easy because of all the different types of transportation that readily are available.

Yes, New York City is a hustling, bustling place. There are taxi cabs and city buses everywhere. There also is the subway system. The subway in New York probably is the best system in the world. It also doesn’t have the bad reputation that it did back in the 70s. Of course, no matter the transportation used, it always is wise to be cautious and safe.

No matter where you go in New York, there’s likely to either be a subway stop, bus or taxi cab nearby. The subway system is extremely intricate and detailed. When I first moved to New York, I had to have a subway map in order to navigate the system. It can be extremely confusing. And there’s nothing like getting on the wrong train or getting off at the wrong stop to ruin your day.

During rush hour, the subways also tend to be very packed. If you’re lucky you’ll get a seat; if not, you can stand for a while. Although efficient, there were many times I stood in a train for more than an hour due to some complication or delay. When you’re standing in a packed train of people wearing winter coats, it’s easy to get nauseous or feel like you want to pass out. Not to mention, sometimes the subway platforms are so packed that you have to wait for a couple full trains to pass before you even can get on a train!

The bus system in New York is comprehensive as well. If you don’t know the bus system or the routes and stops, you’ll get nowhere fast. There are bus route maps that I carried along with my subway maps. I never left home without them. Again, if it’s rush hour, you can forget about getting a seat on the bus, if you even get on one of them.

The taxi cab is in a class by itself. New York is filled with yellow taxis. Wherever you go, you’re likely to see a handful of taxis. And sometimes it’s pretty difficult to hail one. Rush hour again is the culprit. During this time, everyone is trying to hail a cab. I’ve seen people push people out of the way to steal a cab ride. It’s ruthless, and oftentimes not even worth it.

The feet are what I relied on after some time. Walking in New York is a treat, I have to say. Not many cities are “walking” cities, but New York is THE walking city. While walking in New York, times goes fast. Block after block there are things to see and lots of window shopping to do. I lived about 30 blocks from my first publishing company job, and one day I decided to walk to work. Not only was it a great workout, I also got to avoid the subway, bus and taxi mess. All those blocks may seem like a lot, but it really wasn’t at all. Sometimes I’d make it to work quicker than if I took the train or bus.

So, even though there are many transportation choices in New York City, my favorite was just plain walking. I didn’t have to deal with angry people rushing to get to work. Sure, there were other “walkers” on the sidewalks, but walking beat getting pushed in front of an oncoming taxi any day!

Loose Slips

Oh, forget the high heels. I remember something way more interesting than walking on high heels under awful conditions while living in New York. Rushing to my editorial job at the publishing company on those heels was a killer.

One day I was walking on one of those pairs of high heels from the subway to my editing job. I had a good 10 blocks to walk. I saw a woman walking ahead of me and she seemed to be having some type of problem. She was walking a bit funny.

Journalists tend to be a curious lot. And, I’m no different. I have to know or investigate everything. So I sped up, as fast as I could walk in those heels, as the blisters started forming on my toes. The woman, although having difficulty, was trying to speed up as well.

As I got closer, the woman, who was wearing a skirt, had a strange look on her face. I eyed her and noticed something was slipping out from under her skirt. At first I couldn’t make out what it was. Then I saw white lace. The woman’s slip was sliding down her legs! She desperately was trying to keep the slip from falling by walking with her legs further and further apart, knees bent.

It’s like, what do you say? “Need some help ma’am?” No, not in that case. I’m always there to offer to help someone in need. But how do you help a woman when her slip is falling right out from under her skirt? Part of me felt awful for her. How embarrassing. And, yes, part of me wanted to laugh.

So, what happened to her? Well, I trailed behind her for a while. And the slip continued slowly to fall. It finally fell to the ground. The woman stepped out of it and kept walking.

I’ll never forget that, and that was a long time ago. Not many women wear slips these days. But one thing is for sure, if I ever do, I’ll make sure the elastic holds.

Concrete and Heels

Something I remember from back in the early ’80s popped into my head over the weekend having to do with walking around on high heels in New York City. Some women out there probably will remember this, because I couldn’t possibly be the only one with these memories.

Before women carried their high heel shoes in a bag but wore their sneakers or running shoes to work, things were different. When I first moved to New York, I was mesmerized by all the well-dressed women walking around the city on their high heels. Like, “How do they do that?” Remember, at that time suits and corporate wear for the most part were a must. And the well-dressed woman also wore some three- or four-in. heels to go with the outfit.

And I followed suit. Til this day I don’t know how I did it. Rushing around in my skirt and high heels all over New York City. Up and down stairs to and from the subway. Rushing, or running, to cross the street to make sure a taxi didn’t run me over. Everyone seemed to rush wherever they went. I always found myself rushing to make sure I got to my editing job. All this on all that concrete.

Not only were my feet screaming in pain every day, my shoes took the worst beating. New Yorkers do a lot of walking. It’s one of the only cities in the world where that is done. Everyone walks everywhere. Walking on concrete all day, every day of the week is hard on the feet and the rest of the body. Add high heels to that, and your feet take an incredible beating.

By the time I would get to work, I didn’t think my feet could last the rest of the day. By the time the workday was over, which in the publishing world could mean late, I had to somehow find my way home in those same shoes!

Shoes wouldn’t last too long after walking around New York City. Most of my shoes couldn’t take the pounding on the concrete day after day, so the shoes wouldn’t have a long life. I found myself going through shoes like crazy.

So, you ask, why not buy more comfortable shoes with a low heel? At that time, so many women, myself included, wouldn’t hear of it. The look was the heel and that was that. I have to say, thank goodness, the trend changed after a couple years. I started seeing women walking around in their little suits and socks and sneakers. What a concept! A great idea!

I finally took to the new idea, bought myself a great pair of sneakers and just brought my nice, high heel shoes with me and changed at work. But now I have the bad feet as a reminder of those days of “conrete and heels.”

Sales vs. Editorial

I found out early about the differences between sales and editorial with regard to the publishing world. There sometimes were problems and sometimes not. Things sometimes even got heated.

Obviously the world of sales in publishing means selling the ads, which brings in the money. And the bottom line always is the money in just about every business. On the other hand, editorial typically is about journalists striving to report on and write the best stories they can. Pitching editorial sells ads. But when it comes down to it, sales usually wins. If the ad space isn’t sold, then there’s no magazine. If there’s no magazine, everyone on staff has a big problem.

Things actually can get held up because of advertisers. That oftentimes doesn’t sit well with editorial. Writers, reporters, copy editors, managing editors and editors work on “deadline.” With these people, and I’m one of them, deadline is “king.” Our lives revolve around deadline, and most of us hate to miss a deadline. Many of us live our entire lives, personal and professional, with the word “deadline” hanging over our heads. It’s ingrained in our souls, like a sickness.

I found out pretty early on in my career that deadlines would be missed — not due to errors on my part, but mostly due to sales. Didn’t like that at all. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know our magazine had to make money. But you can’t tell me to be “deadline-oriented,” which I accomplish, then tell me to forget the deadline! That drove me absolutely bonkers.

There were never any actual knock-down, drag-out fights. But we sometimes came close. I think there were quite a few times when I sat at my desk at 10:12 p.m. clenching my teeth in anger. The stress level certainly was high. I guess many of us in the business thrive on that type of stress.

After a lot of late nights, the editorial team closing the issue easily got “punchy.” Laughing for no reason. Typing in a headline after your fingers are on the wrong keys can bring about some funny stuff. Maybe not that funny, but when you’re going on two hours of sleep, you sometimes laugh at just about anything. Heck, you’ll even laugh with the salespeople.

In the end, after an issue closes, everyone makes friends. Then it starts all over again for the next issue.

The Road to a New York Writing Job

Truthfully, the road to an entry level publishing job in New York wasn’t too tough. I hadn’t been out of college that long and received a job just weeks after graduation. I graduated with a degree in journalism and writing. Out of all the jobs for which I interviewed and the offers I received, I chose an editorial assistant position at a trade magazine.

From all my research, I concluded that trade journalism paid way more than consumer mags. And I was correct. To this day, from people I know in the biz, consumer magazines, especially fashion magazines, do not pay well at all. And it’s all about who you know, what you wear and who can kiss up to the boss the most.

I worked for a wonderful editor at a trade magazine in midtown Manhattan. She was tough, but she knew her stuff. Ms. Editor had started from the ground up and took no prisoners, but she was fair if you did your job and showed initiative.

As editorial assistant, I wore many hats. It’s kind of like part editorial helper, part secretary. I worked hard to show everyone I wanted to move up, write, edit, anything to get their attention. Through months of this job I learned a lot of company gossip due to the “secretary” side of the job. I also learned about the writers and editors who wanted to help the up-and-coming newbies.

After months of trying to prove myself worthy of actually being part of editorial, it paid off. I was promoted to assistant editor, meaning I would help write stories on the reporting side, and also learn to edit other reporters’ work. This was my big break.

I finally make it to New York, land a job, and then get promoted all in less than a year. Everything is going great workwise. Let’s not forget I’m in New York City at the time, which meant after work there’s an entirely different life waiting for me, and everyone else in the city.