The Typewriter Trap: It’s Not How You Write But Why You Write

New writers love to ask seasoned writers about their work habits. Typewriters versus computers? Writing at home versus at a cafe? Working during the day or the evening?

But all this fetishization of how a freelance journalist writes assumes that there is a recipe for success. And that perhaps the key ingredient is the typewriter or the cafe or the nighttime writing.

 Well, guess what? It’s not how you write but why you write.

Brooklyn based Allison Yarrow, contributing writer at Time and author of the Kindle single The Devil of Williamsburg, is a freelance journalist who works from home. Her tools include her Mac desktop and – when she’s out in the field reporting – a MacBook Air, reporter’s notebook, and digital voice recorder.

But what’s more important to her than the accessories she uses is her motivation for covering the politics and culture beat. She says, “I think that I tend to look for stories that somehow speak to how we live now.”

“When I started at the Newsweek Daily Beast Company, we were coming on a presidential election season, and I was drawn to stories about immigration,” Yarrow said. “I was drawn to stories that have a social and political vibe. These kinds of stories are so interesting because it shows how American thinking is changing – and how world thinking is changing.”

So for anyone who wants to write about shifts in the cultural conversation, now is the perfect time to enter the field. Thanks to social media, “anybody can break a really important story. You don’t have to have 10 years of experience,” Yarrow said.

On a basic level, “having a sense of what is news is important,” but also, she said, “you have to be able to work hard enough and smart enough,” which includes maintaining a well-curated Twitter account.

Kathleen Raven, a freelance science and health writer based in Athens, Georgia, says that her writing tools are simple.

“I’m a fan of the notebook and pen. I’ve been a victim of lost digital recordings, so I have a digital recorder, but I always act as if it’s not going to work,” she said.

She also uses Skype and Google Voice for phone interviews and Toggl for time management.

“I don’t use many apps. I don’t use my iPhone or iPad,” said Raven. ” My philosophy towards reporting is to stay as close to your material and sources as possible and try not to let gizmos do the work for you. Technology doesn’t replace human interaction and critical thinking.”

Aside from keeping apps to a minimum, she encourages up-and-coming writers to focus on the fundamentals.

“The skills that you need to succeed in journalism are critical thinking and rigorous note taking,” Raven said. “If you don’t like putting together the puzzle of what you’re reporting on, then it’s not going to be a fun career.”

What drives her to work as hard as she does and focus on the health and science beat? The early influence of her mother, a nurse.

“We grew up eating very healthily. I developed a natural sense of being curious about health,” Raven said. “There’s a short bridge between sustainable agriculture and health to me. If you don’t have sustainable agriculture, health isn’t possible – you won’t be able to eat anything! So I’m always looking at the intersection of ecology, sustainable agriculture, and human health. Those are my passions.”

 So forget about keeping up with the latest apps. Think about what subjects inspire you to write and why, and use that motivation to fuel your work as a freelancer.

Image courtesy of mckaysavage/flickr