May 21, 2014
"AP Editor Accidentally Adds Her Buzzfeed Cover Letter to Photo Caption."
So painful for this poor woman. For everyone else, it's apparently an occasion to make fun of her in the style of a Buzzfeed article (since, of course, her cover letter is written in an effort to demonstrate capacity to write in the style of Buzzfeed). Maybe Buzzfeed could do listicle of text from cover letters it has received that strive after Buzzfeed style. Suddenly, I loathe the idea of professional writing.
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15 comments:
I am thankful I have no idea what this is about or any desire to know.
Brilliant. She has just created a new form. The photo caption with revealing details about the photographer or editor. Photo of a Lebron dunking: caption: lebron James slams during 4th quarter of Heat comeback over Pacers in Game 2 of Eastern Conference Finals. Editor: "Why can't the Knicks be in the conference finals? I could be in Manhattan right now instead of this Podunk cow town. "
It's a misdirection technique. The technical failure.
Yeah, my boss is a real assho#####nice guy.
I feel pretty bad for her... unless she actually did it on purpose and gets hired by Buzzfeed because of it, then she's an evil genius!
A while back I got a resume from someone looking for a secretarial position.
She claimed she was proficient at using several word processing packages including "Word Prefect."
I wasn't hiring but I would have definitely given her an interview.
"So painful for this poor woman."
Yea, it's only funny when a white male is hit in the listicles.
Once a year I follow a link through to Gawker. This is my last time. My goodness, how these people s*ck.
Suddenly, I loathe the idea of professional writing.
Lots of things are fun until they have to be done for a living. The freedom of doing it your way, answering to no one is a big part of what makes it fun. This blog is yours. If done professionally the blog would belong to your employer. Hypothetical example:
Joe Blow loves to cook. Thinks: "Hey, I'll open a restaurant and make a good living at this thing I love to do." But WOW! Customers are hard to attract and fickle once lured into the joint. One thing wrong with an order, one bit of bad service and they never come back and also bad-mouth potential customers away. Employees are unreliable and know they can walk down the street and easily get another dishwashing/cook/waitperson/bussers job. Result? Bankruptcy.
This is why you never apply for a new job at your old job.
Funny you should mention a loathing of professional writing. From which side? I was a paid to write about hurricanes and the waves they generated. Basically restaurant, gasoline and hotel money to chase Atlantic hurricanes to the various beach towns up and down the east coast. I loathed writing in the style of the website. I then tried my hand at magazine writing with moderate success and came to loathe that also. Now I have finished my first run through on a young adults novel and I already loathe the idea of looking at it again. Life is too short. Think I'll go sailing instead.
You have to decide which skill you have that you want to sell. Selling sex is obviously the classic example of something that you might be good at and that sells but that would be terrible to sell.
What other things are like that? Writing?!
It seems as though you should want to do what you love as a your life's work, but it doesn't quite work that way, and some of the best things in life could be wrecked for you by professionalizing them.
You might ask: Why am I doing this so well and so much and not cashing in? But cashing in could take something that is wonderful and make it drudgery.
And, yes, I know the famous Samuel Johnson quote: "No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money."
I'm disagreeing with it.
Maybe Samuel Johnson was trying to demoralize his competitors.
First, you do it for love. Then you do it for friends. Finally you do it for money.
Ann Althouse said...
Maybe Samuel Johnson was trying to demoralize his competitors.
Silly me, I thought it was Laurence Fishburne.
" I am thankful I have no idea what this is about or any desire to know."
Ditto. I feel good about that.
Oh, and about not caring what a "listicle" is.
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