{"id":10812,"date":"2023-03-03T10:28:05","date_gmt":"2023-03-03T18:28:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/?p=10812"},"modified":"2023-03-10T09:17:23","modified_gmt":"2023-03-10T17:17:23","slug":"an-interview-with-amy-paturel-freelance-writer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.freedomwithwriting.com\/freedom\/uncategorized\/an-interview-with-amy-paturel-freelance-writer\/","title":{"rendered":"An Interview with Amy Paturel, Freelance Writer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amy Paturel<\/strong>\u00a0has covered everything from food to sex in essay form. You’ll find her byline in\u00a0The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Parents<\/em>\u00a0and more. She has won\u00a0\u201chonorable mention\u201d awards in the American Society of Journalists and Authors personal essay category.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Amy Paturel in conversation with Viney Kirpal, a health and personal essay writer.\u00a0<\/strong>You will learn immensely from Amy\u2019s tried and tested writing methods and independent approach here.<\/p>\n

Viney: I\u2019ve read somewhere that when you send your writing to editors, it gets accepted. I\u2019d love to know more about this.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amy:<\/strong>\u00a0I wouldn\u2019t say that when I submit my writing, it gets accepted. What I will say, specifically with regard to essays, is that if I believe in the story, I am relentless in my pursuit of a sale. So out of every 10 essays I write, about 8 will make it to publication. That isn\u2019t because I knock it out of the park every time I write a piece. It\u2019s because I never give up on the story. With every rejection, I tweak and revise. I send the story to trusted writer friends and solicit feedback. I study publications where I think it might fit and try to follow suit in tone and style. I allow the story to change course if necessary. Sometimes personal essays need time to ferment, transform, and evolve. Take, for example,\u00a0a story<\/strong><\/a> that I originally crafted about using music as a way to connect my son with my late father. It started out as a straight personal narrative, but as the years passed and my son grew older, I realized there was a reported angle to the story. At the time, I had been studying the publication\u00a0Wired<\/em>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and I really wanted to work with the editor there. So naturally, I came up with the idea of how to create a playlist that connects generations together.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Viney:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019ve read that essay. It\u2019s very well-written. How do you know when your essay is good enough to submit for publication?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amy:<\/strong>\u00a0My stories tend to have a natural evolution. They start out as a mess of notes. Over time, I revise and craft a cohesive narrative. I read the story aloud, cut unnecessary words, change passive voice to active, and make sure I\u2019ve selected the most descriptive and powerful adjectives and verbs. Once I feel like the piece is in solid shape, meaning that it has a clear take away and every sentence supports that overarching thesis, I share the story with a trusted set of five or six writer friends. These writers are people I admire and respect, people whose work touches me deeply and inspires me. With their feedback, I do another round of revisions, then circulate it one more time. If the general consensus is that the story is salable, I hit send.<\/p>\n

Viney:<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s interesting that you take lots of feedback, and re-work the story before sending it. But, is there a method you use to spot trends and create fresh angles?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amy:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m not the type of writer who spots trends and fresh tangles. Rather, I follow my curiosity. So instead of covering the latest health craze, or fashion trend, or even a new parenting strategy, I gravitate toward topics I\u2019m passionate about and that are immediately relevant to my life. I know several writers who spend a lot of time on Twitter and can write stories based on an editors\u2019 call for submissions. That\u2019s a great approach if you work that way. Unfortunately, my mind just doesn\u2019t operate in that fashion.<\/p>\n

Viney:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0And that\u2019s what makes Amy, the award-winning Amy, a top writer. I too can\u2019t chase things that don\u2019t interest me. Do you have an ideal pitch structure which helps convince editors to take something not terribly fashionable?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amy:<\/strong>\u00a0The ideal pitch structure often depends on the publication I\u2019m approaching and the type of story I want to write. Pitching a reported essay is NOT the same as pitching a personal essay. With a personal essay, editors usually prefer to see the essay in its entirety. Reported essays, on the other hand, require a pitch. After all, you don’t want to put a ton of legwork into researching and reporting a story that will never land.<\/p>\n

Whether personal or reported, my pitches typically start the same way: With an opening paragraph highlighting what the story (or idea) is about, and why it\u2019s relevant to that publication\u2019s readership. I make sure I can summarize the story in two sentences or less.<\/p>\n

Then, if it\u2019s a personal essay, I\u2019ll paste the entire piece into the body of an email. For a reported piece, my goal is to convince the editor that the topic is worthy of coverage \u2014\u00a0and that requires research. The end result usually includes the following:<\/p>\n