Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Scan those newspapers for writing ideas

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Just as I was donning my IPod, running shoes and ball cap for my three-mile, sweat-inducing, heart-pounding run along the river, I saw this story in today's San Francisco Chronicle.
  • Yoga story

  • Lift and stretch. Lift and stretch.

    If you read my other blog, From Where I Sit, these first few graphs sound familiar. They should.
  • From Where I sit

  • But what struck me about the story, besides the photo that caught my eye, (you have to go to From Where I Sit to see it, or click on Yoga Story above) was the possibility for an Op-Ed or column about yoga, prudishness in people, or the simple fact that naked yoga classes are popular, but perhaps not in the Iowa.

    Every day I scan the newspapers, newswires, and yes, even blogs for ideas for stories for one of my paying jobs, and also for possible Op-Ed pieces.

    And even if you don't have a market for a good 500-650 word piece about, say, Naked Yoga, write it anyway. It's good mental exercise, limbers your fingers and creates writing samples. And if you don't have a market, create an email list of friends who are kind enough to read your work and kind enough to not tell you if they don't.

    More on self-syndication in another blog.

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