"I read your wordpress, and I love it. No wait, I LOVE YOU! I am also from an indian ethnicity and I wish to pursue a career in journalism, kind of like fashion journalism, because fashion is my forte. I was just wondering if you could write up a post on your wordpress regarding how you became so interested in journalism and where it all began from, and how you are so motivated into actually doing stuff like writing articles, starting a blog and doing your own independent projects. I just cant seem to get myself to do anything. I feel so stupid when I ask a fashion website to write for them, i dont know what to say or do and its really pathetic since im in my last year of high school and have no experience in this field. I would reallly, really really appreciate it if you could write a post up on wordpress. Ive been a fan of yours since you joined DESIblitz!"
A month ago, I received many messages similar to the one above via tumblr. In all the messages, I was requested to write a post on my wordpress regarding how I became interested in journalism, how I am so motivated in pursuing a career in it and to share some tips and advice on how individuals can get involved in this field. Before I begin, I must let you know that ever since I was little I have always had an interest for the entertainment industry. The star light, atmosphere, and basically everything about the industry just appealed to me. At the time, I didn't know what career I was going to pursue, but I always knew that somehow, some way I would one day pursue a career which revolved around the entertainment industry. Which brings me to how I became interested in journalism. Last year, during my sophomore year of high school, I just started thinking about what my interests are and how I could possibly make a career out of them. Clearly, all jobs related to math and science were out of the subject since I have no passion for either of those courses. After giving it some more thought, I came to a conclusion that writing has always been my passion. I've always had an interest in writing, even though I didn't show it. It has always been that one thing that allows me to properly express my thoughts and feelings. After making my decision, I began looking into possible future universities that I would attend. I spent days figuring out my top 3 universities to apply to but after reviewing their prerequisites, I knew that their requirements wouldn't be enough. What I needed was to build a portfolio that displayed all of my work done throughout high school to show that I had gained experience and that I actually am interested in journalism and hope to someday pursue a career in it. Which is why I began writing for a variety of different websites. Before I found any promising websites that I write for today, I started off with really small ones to write on. They were barely updated, some had been abandoned years ago and overall the experience was horrible. I browsed the internet some more until I found a site that met up to my standards. The website's name is DESIblitz, and I can proudly say that I have been apart of this talented team since 2010. DESIblitz is the first website that got me even more motivated in writing. For the past year, I've been writing articles based on the Indian fashion and entertainment industries. Also, thanks to my experience from DESIblitz, I just recently became a fashion columnist for Pumpsicle, a western website that talks about all the latest hollywood fashion trends and styles. After reviewing my previous work, the editor just loved my articles about Indian couture, hence providing me with a position on the website that allows me to share Indian fashion on a western website.
In regards to giving you guys some advice/tips, the first thing you need to do is ask yourself if you really are interested in this career. Contact people who work for newspapers, tv studios and much more. I emailed many people who worked at MTV, and various magazines and newspapers, and after hearing their advice, I knew what I wanted and how to achieve my goals. Also, it's really important to write. Keep a journal, or start an online blog, that way you'll practice your writing. Also in this field, you will be required to work with a camera at one point so during your spare time, grab a camera and start shooting some footage, as well as edit. More importantly, if you decided you really want to pursue a career in journalism, then be confident and don't let anyone get in your way. At times, you will have people tell you that your writing is bad or that you're not capable of being a journalist, instead of getting frustrated and letting yourself down, ignore their comments and improve on yourself. Think of ways to make your writing better and continually write, because afterall, success comes from practice and hard work!
-This weeks post name comes from Russel Lynes.
No comments:
Post a Comment