Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Wednesday Confessional

I've had a bit of nothing-to-do time in between my summer internship and the start of my fall semester. It's given me just enough time to freak out about my future. It's frightening to be facing my final year as an undergrad. It's going to be a busy, overwhelming year.

As I'm thinking about life after college, I feel like I have direction, which is actually new for me. It's a nice feeling, but I am also worried that I am headed into a dying industry. I shouldn't say dying. Publishing is a rapidly changing industry. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. It could actually be exciting, as I will be part of these changes. At the same time, I am worried for magazines. Many people are saying that the future won't be in print, but that magazines will be transformed into purely digital media. As someone who loves magazines, - loves holding them in my hands, loves filing them away - I fear the prospect of losing the aspects of print media that I cherish. Robert Sacks (www.bosacks.com) says that "It's the publishing model that is dead, not print" (from NYU-SCPS Center for Publishing). I suppose this is comforting. Nonetheless, it's certainly scary to be stepping onto shaky ground and into the unknown.

I've been reading all of this advice from "how to take away as much as possible from your internship" to "how to apply for jobs and pitch stories." It's frightening. Am I here already? It's becoming a little too real for me. It's also showing me that I have a lot of decisions to make. What aspects of publishing do I want to focus on? If I want to be a writer, what sort of publication do I want to write for? What experience do I really need? I'm hoping that the coming academic year will provide insight (and answers) to these questions.

I apologize for the 'heavy' nature of this post. It's certainly not necklaces and headbands.

2 comments:

bankrgrl said...

I really admire your thought process on this. You know I love to write but I never considered going outside of my comfort zone at the bank. I have a good job, why risk it? But I wish I had done an internship and I wish that I had stepped out of my world, at least to try something new. I would love to get into editing and maybe it's something I will pursue after I finish my MA.

Big decision. But you still have time. What classes are you taking next year?

Laura said...

I definitely understand your position. You do have a great job - and writing certainly isn't the most stable job there is. As I'm moving forward, I am discovering just how hard it is to try something new! I definitely admire how hard you work and that you've decided to pursue an MA. I definitely think you'd be perfect for editing - I know you have the tendency to naturally edit everything you see (as do I). It's never too late!

This semester, I'll be taking a course called The English Novel, a seminar focusing on Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf, and the last class in my History of Literature saga. Then, I have an Anthropology course and my internship seminar. Should be interesting!