Comics-obsessed Kids Grow Up to be Comics-obsessed Adults, and Others Acquiesce

Perhaps this is an inappropriate way to say it, but superheroes never really turned me on the way they do many kids. When many of my Marvel Comics-reading childhood friends became high school students, and their interest transferred over to seemingly more risqué and violent Japanese manga comics and Anime, I had only a vague wish that I could share in their preoccupation with these cartoons. My impression was that the storyline of any given comic consisted of one or two or all of a few basic elements which spelled out pure action, adventure, and fantasy: good and evil in a never ending brawl (BANG! THWACK! POW!), the perpetual high-speed car chase, uncommonly proportioned women’s bodies, or (in the case of manga) strange sexual fetishism. Though comics seemed very much like “stuff for dudes” to me (and I was always, of course, much too sophisticated for any of that) or like “kid’s stuff,” I assumed above all that comics were not made for those who enjoyed reading (or deep thinking, for that matter).

Yes, I know, it sounds like I was an uptight and pretentious youngster. Well, maybe I was. But after hesitantly dipping my toe into adulthood and discovering that it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined it would be, I was able to loosen up to a more sensible and enjoyable openness. I began to notice that there were comics written on myriad topics. Not only this, but there was this new term that I had never heard before referring to comics that had a decidedly more literary ring: “Graphic Novel.” Some of the subjects that graphic novels are written about include autobiography, history, religion, science fiction, romance, and (yup) superhero stories.

Working Hard Pays Off: A Guide For The Would Be Short Story Anthology Editor by Colin Farstad

When I first started talking to Kevin Sampsell about his involvement in the anthology Portland Noir we were walking downtown the few blocks from Kenny and Zukes, over to Powell’s Books, Kevin’s home for the past eleven years. When I finally asked Kevin about how he became the editor for Portland Noir he said, “Well I kind of got talked into it.”
     Johnny Temple, Publisher of Akashic Books, approached Kevin because he has collected a body of work that features short stories online and in print, a previously edited anthology and a network of writers from his years at Powell’s. Even though there was someone else that wanted to edit Portland Noir, Johnny Temple wanted Kevin Sampsell.

Writing up a Fortune: the Easy Life of Freelancing - by Fleecy

Freelance writers have the luxury of working from home, free from the burdens of bosses, coworkers, commutes and office hours. Such freedom, however, leaves the writer responsible for his own inspiration and work regimen; there’s no boss to handle the overhead, and no colleagues with whom to relate. Consequently, the flexible schedules often entail hectic work loads, with completed articles returned for immediate revisions in the midst of looming deadlines for current assignments. And since the work loads are inconsistent, so is the pay. Therefore, a big paycheck must be spent with responsible budgeting foresight, for it might just be the only paycheck of an otherwise meager season in the marketplace. Furthermore, since the assignments come in fits and starts, freelancers have to exercise the discipline of turning down some wonderful projects when the stack gets high, for such assignments might be impossible amidst an already tightly filled docket; a tough call for writers who’ve lived through their share of work droughts. As women’s magazine freelancer Margrit Ragland states in her mediabistro guide Get a Freelance Life, “[d]on’t take on too much just because you can, and don’t be too worried when editors aren’t biting – there’s always something new for you to try pitching” (Ragland 11).

Web Content—Writing Is Not Designing

Freelance designer Payton Biddington sits across from me, behind the desk in the corner of his living room. His shoes are off and he’s sitting in an Aeron ergonomically designed chair. As he speaks, he’s working on HelpMeKennyP.com, a remote support site for computer services. I watch his screen for a moment as he shifts between ten or so different tabs, filled with html coding, images, and web pages. I’m here to ask him about design.

Writing the Adventures

Somewhere people are actually being paid to write about testing free gear in the Alps, hiking in Alaska with their kids, and being dropped by helicopter into the woods and finding a way out. And at least one man has been paid to climb and write about Mt. Everest. Outdoor magazine journalists inspire people to get outside, whether it’s on hiking trails, bikes, skis, rivers or mountains.

As a subscriber of such myself, these writers show parts of the Earth, most of which I’ll probably never go, but remain grateful for the opportunity to know that such wild and rugged places are out there. Food for fantasy. But, for the trips I do go on, the various magazines have their own mission that tries to show where the best and freshest places are, what gear is solid, as well as supplying essential safety and other clever tips. After that, it’s up to the reader to get out and make his or her own adventure happen.

Writing for Public Health: A Meeting of Manipulation and the Greater Good By Rosie Mckinlay-Mench

Public Health is a broad field. It covers everything from salicylic acid safety in day spas to the desertification of once-flourishing rain forests. Something that may seem trivial, like the prevalence of nail-biting on city transit, is probably being examined in a social science PhD program somewhere for its effect on the spread of infectious disease or correlation with anxiety in inner-city residents as we speak. Surely, in this vast expanse of a field, there’s room for a writer? Perhaps even a bit of creativity? It appears the answer to both is yes.

Writing as a Music Critic

Is it all about the music as some musicians will put it in their interviews; or is it something else? In the world we live in today, we have hundreds of new ways to discover music and assess whether we like it or not and even more opportunities to hear or read about what other people think. For example, take a band or musician that you like and type their name into Pandora.com, now you have the ability to listen to music based around one band at the touch of a button. If that’s not enough for you, people who want to see more physical evidence in connecting bands or musicians, try mapping your favorite artists with the help of music-map.com by conducting a search of that same artist. Either way you look at it there are many different ways to discover new music other than word of mouth or reading the latest issue of Rolling Stone. With the endless options of discovering new music, there is the need for people to review music as an art since exists since so much music exists that one can listen to and discover but we still have need for unwanted music and genre classifications.

The Day I Decided to Snog the Blog: Wholeheartedly and Without Reservation- by Amber Beren

The medium of a highly personal form of media known as the blog is one in which individuals—corporate, artists, small businesses, freelancers, gurus, conspiracy theorists, and philosophers alike—all work together (or alone) in order to create a space for information dissemination on the ever expanding, quasi-labyrinthine medium known as the internet. This sharing of ideas, merchandise, nuggets of wisdom, and pearls of truth (see big “t”, little “t” argument here) all congregate in order to create a discourse of pansophic understanding concerning any particular number of niche topics.

Bloggers write on any number of things, but some of the most popular topics include: politics, technology, celebrity gossip, fashion, self-help, motherhood, and surprisingly—yes I would posit surprisingly—feminism/alternative female lifestyles (2008’s top 50 most powerful blogs). This got me to thinking, as a soon to be graduating English major with—as some would say—moderate delusions of grandiosity, couldn’t there be a realm of writing that wouldn’t lead me directly into the respectable, bookish, not-so-horrible-but-I-have-way-too-many-creative-ideas-to-just-settle-with-a-way-of-making-money career field?

A Career In Tutoring

Some people think tutors are like the nannies of the education world. I beg to differ. How come rock stars can offer guitar lessons and still remain rock stars? Tutors can follow that same rule. Isn’t it possible to be a “writer” and offer “lessons” on the side? I think so. With enough diligence and enough know-how, many English and writing majors are able to use their degrees toward productive careers as tutors. There are a number of ways to turn a profit in the field of tutoring.