Two months ago, I asked readers to share stories about their first writing clip and got a ton of funny, nostalgic responses. It’s great to remember the excitement of seeing your name in print for the first time, but it’s also easy to lose sight of that feeling as we gain more credits and perhaps get a little jaded.
Now I’m asking you to share the project you’re most proud of.
It could be your book manuscript or a personal essay you wrote or perhaps a video you produced. Remembering and reflecting on those projects is useful for inspiration and also helps us figure out new projects or directions that could bring that same feeling of creative pride. Sure, there are projects we do so we can collect a paycheck (no shame there), but hopefully we also find time for work that inspires us.
I’ll start. Last year, soon after I left my job, I pitched an article inspired by a women’s networking event I attended. All of these female entrepreneurs talked about working through challenges and how they got fired up after a setback and that got me fired up. If they could create a successful business, I reasoned, so could I.
The stars aligned, and WomenEntrepreneur.com assigned the story. Then Fox Business reprinted it: Turn Setbacks Into Successes. My editor made some tweaks, but overall the balance of practical and inspirational remains in tact. Even a year later, I almost always include this clip when I’m pitching a women’s magazine or a business publication. I love the subject matter and the fact that it’s not a 250-word charticle (as so many of my assignments tend to be!).
Do you have an article or a sample that you keep using again and again? What projects make you the most proud? Go ahead – tell us about them!
Ha! Love this, because the stories I’m most proud of smack of a lot less desperation than the first clips I got.
I recently broke into Time Out NY magazine with this story, which was exciting, because it was the first bylined piece I’d ever gotten in a publication I actually loved to read.
But I think that the piece I’m most proud of is this one. I had long admired the personal essays published at Nerve, so finally contributing my own was exciting in itself. But what I’m most proud of is the fact that I finally tackled in writing a personal topic that I had been unable to coherently write about for years.
@Steph: How did I miss your TONY article?! That’s great! I’m a huge AT fan, too. In fact, I’m taking a design class from one of the Boston bloggers later this month and I hope to get my new apartment on the site someday. Well done, Steph!
I think the clip I’m most proud of is one that I wrote about my father that was actually printed in honor of father’s day last year by the Monitor. I always find personal essays to be my most rewarding work. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0613/p19s04-hfes.html
@Chantal: That’s a great essay! Well deserved clip.
Hi Susan. Great idea! Sadly I can’t link right now to my favorite piece b/c all International Herald Tribune articles are currently being re-filed under NYT server. But it would have been a personal essay I wrote about what it’s like to join the PTA in a foreign country. It really seemed to resonate with a lot of readers and I realized I’d really tapped into something. Also gave me more confidence with my voice. Love the blog-I use your tips all the time. Best, Delia
Congratulations! You are the recipient of the One Lovely Blog Award. Please check out my post at: http://www.thewritertoday.com/2009/05/one-lovely-blog-award.html
I’ll admit – this one took me a while to think about. But probably the one I’m most proud of is one in which I helped an author get his book to market. He’s just a great person and his book was one of those neat concepts that promised to help folks improve their lives. To be honest, HE made it the project I’m most proud of.
I wrote about a female football player for Bust Magazine (her brother plays center for the NY Jets). I loved the piece b/c she’s so inspiring!
@Delia: I think I read that back when it was on the website! Congrats on the essay.
@Lori: I bet you had a lot of projects to choose from, so that’s why it took you awhile.
@SF: That sounds like a great piece! I’m a huge fan of BUST, so congrats for breaking in.
I keep a directory on my computer titled “Justwrite.”
Now and then, I write something just because I want to write it.
I doubt that anyone will read it or want to read it; I just write it.
Two pieces in there: one about buying a car and another about a meal I shared with my middle son.
I’m most proud of my contribution to this web site (www.onelovesouthernafrica.org). I developed the blog from scratch (for a client), and it’s the biggest project I’ve ever handled. It’s still a work in progress, and I like the fact that it allows me to combine an interest in social activism with blogging.
Well I don’t know if proud is the word I should be using here. I lost a lot of friends over this post. But it was the first time I really dug down and wrote about an issue I had not quite learned to deal with.
listening to the knife Still can’t, but that is for another article.