The truth about pitching
for freelance writers, these things might matter more.
When writers talk about the work of being a freelancer, we tend to put a lot of emphasis on pitching. As the creator of this newsletter for freelance writers, I am guilty of doing this myself; how and who to pitch are a big focus of One More Question. Each week, I spend hours scouring Twitter to curate the list of pitch calls I send to paid subscribers on Tuesdays—because I know these can save you lots of time to focus on actually finding stories and pitching them. I also offer pitch feedback, because no one ever taught me how to pitch in journalism school. It just blows my mind that writers enter the workforce without this essential freelancing skill. And besides, even the most experienced freelancers could use an extra pair of eyes on their pitches before sending them off to editors.
But here’s the thing.
Once you know the basic structure of a pitch, and how to find editors’ emails, and where to look for pitch calls, pitching isn’t all that complicated.
You need a compelling lede, a clear story angle (not just a topic), a brief explanation of how you’ll report/structure/write the thing, ideally a source or two, and something about why you’re the person who should write it (along with some links to your past work).
Once you’ve written a bunch of these, they become second nature.
But a perfectly polished pitch won’t guarantee you assignments. (There are a million other reasons for editors to ignore or reject your pitch.) And when we focus so much on how to write a pitch, we tend to forget some other things that are often more important—like how to find good stories.
So let’s take a break from pitching to talk about what will help us find stories worth pitching. When we pay attention to these things, the pitches and the assignments will follow.
1. Persistent curiosity
Whether you’re someone who will spend hours digitally tunneling your way through a Wikipedia rabbit hole or you’d rather sit in silence than hear the life story of your carshare driver, curiosity is a skill we all must nurture. Some writers are naturally more curious than others. Some writers are naturally more extroverted than others, which can lend itself to curiosity. But we all must work on being persistently curious.
Do you take note of a guest on a podcast who said something really wild and interesting but that wasn’t really the topic of the show so the conversation moved on? Or look up the source in a news story who only gave one quote but seems to have a unique perspective on something that happened?
When someone knows more than you about something, do you ask questions or feel defensive about what you don’t know?
Do you intentionally pay attention to your surroundings—the architecture, the colors, the historical plaque explaining something really important that happened here, the sounds and smells of the world passing by—rather than looking at your phone while you wait in line for takeout?
I believe these kinds of habits can enhance our lives, and also our writing. But they require practice. And persistence.
It takes practice to ask questions—even when we’re bored—instead of tuning out.
It takes practice to dig deeper for those threads of a story that aren’t visible on the surface.
It takes practice to move through life with a desire to know more, instead of instinctively sharing what we already know and moving on.
But when we work on simply paying better attention, stories show up everywhere.
2. Passion and expertise
Chandra Turner nailed it in our Q&A a couple weeks ago.
“Be the weirdo,” she said. And then went out to explain that editors and hiring managers love to meet a writer who can totally geek out on a random topic.
Some of us had passion and expertise about something before we became writers. (Hold on to that!) Others are passionate experts ON WRITING, and it can be harder to branch out and find the topics and issues we really want to focus on. But this is so important. We all have to find these things. Not only because passion and expertise will land us more stories and make us more money, but also because a deep-seated interest in what you write about makes the work so much more enjoyable and rewarding.
When I returned to freelancing after working a full-time editing job for three years, I decided to focus on climate change and the horrifying damage of fossil fuels. These were the headlines I couldn’t not click on when they popped up on my newsfeed. I was suddenly gravitating towards books on the climate crisis at the local bookstore, and took notes on notecards even though I wasn’t writing about it yet. I had attended a pipeline protest years ago, and then learned of a pipeline project proposal not far from where I live. Less than a year later, I was moving to the Oregon Coast to pursue a story about the resistance to that pipeline. I was curious, and passionate, and the expertise slowly followed. And then I found myself with a handful of related bylines—and suddenly I had expertise!
It’s so important to spend time digging deeper on your passions. And find new ones. Invest in your expertise by taking some classes or attending free events. When you think something important is happening and you have a desire to be there for it—go there. Keep asking questions. Be the weirdo.
But also, you don’t have to be THE expert on everything you write about. It pays to specialize, but as writers, we have the joy and privilege of turning to more knowledgeable experts for interviews. So you can focus on being a writer first. Which frees up your time to be a sort-of-expert, or a persistently-curious-novice, on lots of different things.
3. Following the right stories
There’s a farmer in Eastern Oregon who I’ve been trying to reach for weeks. It’s his busy season, so he’s out in the fields for 16-hour days and rarely checks his email. When he does, the times I’ve suggested to meet up in person have usually filled up. But I will keep following up, because there is a story out there and I know it’s a good one that needs to be told. He is the person I need to talk to for this story—hopefully in person.
Finding and interviewing sources can be a huge time suck if we’re not careful. But really good stories don’t grow on trees. Sometimes, you have to be patient, and invest extra time on a topic before the story reveals itself to you.
Devoting that time to finding and talking to sources without an assignment is hard. It can feel like work without the promise of a return. But when you’re passionate about the topics you want to write about, this “research” time can be a fulfilling, enjoyable pursuit instead of unpaid labor. And whether or not it leads to a specific assignment, you’re developing expertise on the topic by talking to people. Expertise pays off.
So here’s a rule to live by: If you can’t stop thinking about something, you’re probably close to a story worth telling. Stick with it till you find it.
That’s all to say that good stories matter more than good pitches.
There are so many resources out there to help you write a good pitch and pitch the right people. But all of that will be so much easier if you’re regularly nurturing your curiosity, your passions and your expertise, and spending time on the stories that matter to you. Those stories will matter to editors, too. Those stories will get you assignments.
Good luck out there.
P.S. Subscriptions to One More Question are 40% off for just one more day! If you want to spend more of your time finding great stories and less time finding editors to pitch, a paid subscription will give you that, with a curated list of pitch calls each week.
You’ll also receive my big list of editor contacts and access to 100+ archived posts, including Q&As with editors, honest essays on the writing life, and lots more.
Stay inspired,
Britany