10 Comments
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Robert Qua's avatar

Ross, great advice! Keep up the great work and congrats on cracking the NYT.

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Douglas Marolla's avatar

“Do what you say you are going to do. Do it on time.”

I have that posted in the room. This is a wonderful piece for any writer. Being reliable, polite, and focused is simple yet profound advice.

You’re the Torii Hunter of writers. Many many really good seasons - great at one thing, and when it’s all over the columns add up impressively.

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sara kimbell's avatar

Ross, such a great piece. Especially for my 25 year old son who just ended his baseball career and all he wants to do is write. Just trying to figure out how. NYT piece this week also great. Thanks.

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Ross Barkan's avatar

Thank you! He made it longer than me. I became a softball player at 19.

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Charles Browning's avatar

Great piece , Ross! Reality.

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Quiara Vasquez's avatar

Open question: are there any resources specifically meant for people looking for "another jobs" to support their writing habits? Particularly in NYC where I expect there must be some places explicitly recruiting artists for not-particularly-well-paying secretarial work. Is there a database of that sort of thing?

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Ross Barkan's avatar

It's a good q. These days remote jobs are definitely helpful. The Freelancer's Union may have resources. Zink's advice is good: find something that isn't draining you too much

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Sheluyang Peng's avatar

Great advice. Especially the getting used to rejection thing. Ted Williams batted .400 and that means he still couldn't reach base half the time.

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Ross Barkan's avatar

He actually did in 1941! He posted a .553 OBP. That's why he was a God. In 2022, very few players even had a .400 OBP

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Stephen Saperstein Frug's avatar

Who took the photo at the top of this post?

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