When I started working with a freshman writing intern on January 2nd, I wondered how we would fill our days. Two weeks later, I can’t imagine how I’m going to teach her everything I want to before she heads back to college! Having someone shadow you is an experience that I’d highly recommend for a couple of reasons. Not only does it make you more organized, it also gives you an opportunity to reflect on what you do and why you do it. Finally, if you’re relatively new to the profession, like I am, it’s an affirmation of how far you’ve come as a freelance writer as well as a reminder of how much you still have to learn.
What do you do with an intern you might ask? Here are just a few of the things we’ve accomplished so far:
Interviews: I’ve had her interview me, a publisher, a nonfiction book author and travel writer, and two local farmers.
Business writing: She composed a press release, came up with a local press contact list, and submitted the release to the media. She’s also working on a LinkedIn profile.
Attend meetings: We’ve been to a local Chamber of Commerce meeting and a County Strategic Tourism meeting.
Continuing Education: I assigned her to participate in a free webinar about self-promotion and establishing a platform.
Write: She’s written up almost everything we’ve done together and not just once. With each piece we edit and revise it until it’s in good shape.
Query letters: After researching how they should be written and reviewing past issues of the publication, she submitted her first article query to an editor yesterday. Now, like the rest of us, she’ll have to wait and see and possibly face a rejection.
Read: I’ve given her copies of Writer’s Digest magazine and the Sun, two of my favorite magazines, to start.
Extra projects: I’m working on a book proposal with another professional which gave her the opportunity to sit in on our weekly meeting and see how a “real live” collaboration works.
As you can see, it’s been a lot of planning and work. What makes it worthwhile? When I first started in this business, I had a lot of support and help from other writers so there’s an element of “pay it forward” in this for me. I’ve also really enjoyed watching her gain in confidence as she is able to master more tasks and show increasing initiative. Finally, supervising a student gives me the chance to do two things I really enjoy, teaching and sharing information about the things I’m passionate about, reading and writing!
Anyone else out there have an intern?
