Honestly, I thought it was pretty good. The "editor" of the magazine, told me...and I quote, that it "sucked." She even said it was a bomb, and that she has another writer also doing a music article...and our articles will be competing for publication in the first issue. Also, and I quote... "if both of us write a terrible article, then I (the "editor") will just write it myself." Now, I agree with the point that the focus should be more on the music. I also had a 300 word limit. Oh, and did I mention less than 48 hours to write 4 articles that all included some kind of research (going to places, calling people, an interview, and information gathering on the Internet.) I would have agreed with the point that it was not focused, or the angle was wrong, but I will not agree that this piece "sucked." Now...maybe I am just not taking criticism well...I think I take it pretty well, actually. She started the spiel of her feedback with these words..."This one really sucked," Then, the only real problem she said she found with it, was that it talked about the bar instead of the music...okay, easy fix...but, that does not mean it sucked. I feel like I know enough about good journalism to know the piece did not suck. I will also agree that even my Journalistic efforts step out of the box a little, and sometimes that is not good with certain publications. I just feel it was very unprofessional. She really had very little comments about the other three articles. This, among other things, has left me questioning if this internship is right for me. I am worried. And I am disappointed. It feels so disheartening.
My mom, on the other hand is livid.
I thought it brought up the atmosphere really well.
ReplyDeleteIf that woman was looking for something different she should have been more specific.
Isn't journalism about COMMUNICATION..?!?
This internship is not right for you unless you want to work with an immature, tactless, mean editor! I can't believe some of the things she said. Its NOT you being sensitive to criticizes at all. She's a dimwit and I wouldn't expect her to recognize good writing if it hit her in the face. What professional talks like she did? I am a bit mad (can you tell). Let me at her :)
ReplyDeleteI love your writing!
To me the article read more like a descriptive passage in a novel, describing a location where a scene takes place.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous...I agree with this. And this is constructive criticism, which I can do something with. Seeing as this piece is not a novel, and is a article for a magazine...I should make it more "newsy", and less romantic. I see that about it. And I see how to improve it, based on this criticism! And that is what criticism is all about.
ReplyDelete@Barbara...my mom said the same thing you did! She told me to get the hell out, too...(There was more unprofessionalism before this instance, as well. A couple of things mt mom really disagreed with.)
I owned my own live entertainment venue in the late nineties and would have loved a write up like this!
ReplyDeleteIf interested, you can check out my bar's review at
http://sickgirl-methadonepretty.blogspot.com/2008/08/i-wanna-be-sedated.html
peace, love and happiness...
sickgirl