I've been writing online for a while, but I think writing for print is nifty too. So when someone from the Washington Post contacted me to contribute an opinion piece, I was psyched. They found my blog--I didn't have to approach them, which is cool because we often have to chase after opportunities. In fact, I had no idea that editors from such prestigious newspapers look online for contributors. I'm not going to lie: I still think it's a big deal when someone from the print media is interested in what I have to say (which is why I was happy when Mary Beard noticed my blog).
So I spent a bit of time writing a draft of an essay, and I even turned down some extra radio work to get it to the Post early, in case they wanted me to make changes. But then they told me that they weren't going to do the topic, and I was disappointed. They said that if I had an interesting idea, I should let them know, but for some reason, even though I'm quite opinionated, I can't think of anything that they might be interested in.
Maybe one day it will happen, but until then, I'll continue toiling in obscurity :D
2 comments:
Perhaps you should try something on language in society. I know this is too broad, but I'm sure you will find something suitable for US readership.
You could write something in praise of language purists. They are almost always criticized and ridiculed. Perhaps you should try to justify their rationale by giving examples from (recent)history where language engineering has been relatively successful. Linguists may not like that, but are they always right?
Good luck!
I don't have any thoughts about language purists, and English is not nor never was a pure language, so there's no angle there.
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