We chat with Seattle-based freelancer Zia Munshi (and at one point, her pug Harry.)
- 0:20 - Wade is working from a noisy, noisy Starbucks. The resulting sound quality is not awesome.
- :43 - That second piece? Insanely hard to write, as it turned out.
- 1:11 - That barista in the background was hilarious.
- 1:39 - Zia Munshi joins us.
- 2:29 - Zia’s career trajectory.
- 3:38 - Getting that first ad agency gig.
- 4:19 - Young Zia’s six months in India working on a magazine for Americans.
- 5:35 - Projects: Like/Do Not Like
- 8:13 - Continually improving as a writer.
- 9:13 - Anathema words.
- 11:36 - How Zia finds freelance work.
- 12:10 - Advice for aspiring writers: the power of blogging, and putting together a portfolio.
Zia’s blog: www.ziamunshi.com
Music by Morgansorange
September 21st, 2007
Wade talks to freelance writer Zia Munshi about breaking into the advertising business, writing case studies, putting a portfolio together, and blogging to help your career. Also: using “impact” as a verb. (shudder)
Show notes at http://writingforpay.org
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September 21st, 2007
In a recent LiveJournal post, author Sean Williams says that he finds it difficult to give advice to aspiring writers for a number of reasons. One of the main ones is that in this game, there aren’t any rules.
I ask all of my guests for that sort of advice, but it’s not because I’m expecting THE answer from them–and you shouldn’t either. Jaq, Wolfgang, and (soon!) Zia all take different approaches to their careers, so the tips that they offer will be different. You might try one piece of advice, find that it’s not working in your situation, and try another.
Sean’s own advice is succinct:
- Read a lot.
- Write a lot.
- Write what you love but be aware of the market.
- Define your version of success and take concrete steps towards achieving it.
- Be professional at all stages of your career.
- Listen to everyone.
- Be visible.
- Challenge yourself, always.
- Never believe you’ve figured it out, because everything changes.
- Work hard.
Take out the references to writing and that’s pretty good advice in general.
I can only add, and I cannot make this point strongly enough: Do not covet your neighbor’s ox.
September 11th, 2007
