An Average Day in the Cafeteria

At exactly ten-thirty in the morning workers can be seen heading towards the cafeteria. With hungry looks on their faces, men and women hurry for the door. A large crowd of people holding plates of food slowly move through the lunch lines like herds of cattle. A balding man with a big belly drops a few pennies on the floor while collecting his change and quickly scrambles to pick them up. Some guy behind him playfully shouts, "You're holding up the line!" On the other side of the room a middle-aged man frantically searches tables for salt and pepper shakers that aren't empty. Two women sit across from each other discussing their weekends while enjoying their coffee. A man loudly complains about the quality of his food, claiming that his chicken is cold. Chatter fills the cafeteria as microwaves hum and beep in the background. As the lunch break ends, chairs are heard scooting across the floor as people rush out the door.

A visit from an experienced writer

Glen Martin, an established and experienced writer, was kind enough to visit the University of Washington and speak before the COM 359 writing class last week. He was friendly, informative, and made the class chuckle several times because of his dry sense of humor. Most importantly, he was brutally honest as he told the class what to expect if they were seeking careers in the field of journalism.

Glen Martin started things off by giving the class a brief history of his life in journalism. After he finished college with an English degree, he began writing articles on fire fighting and became a contributing editor for Firehouse magazine. During this time, he also became a freelance writer on the subject of environmental issues and gained some recognition. It was enough to eventually land him a job as a hunting and fishing writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, which he held for eighteen years. Glen explained that it was his favorite job because he got to hunt and fish and was paid to write about it. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and after the company made some changes in leadership, Glen was assigned to be an environment beat reporter. He won some awards while holding that position but wasn’t satisfied with his job. After some time, he decided to leave the San Francisco Chronicle, taking a buyout and receiving an early pension.

Since then, Glen Martin has started freelancing again, exploring new markets. He acts as a consultant for environmental agencies and as a ghostwriter on their blogs. He is also a featured blogger for the Huffington Post. He does not get paid to blog for them, but he does so in order to make himself visible. Glen is also the author of three books. His most recent work, Game Changer, is also his most successful. However, Glen explained to the class that he feels he is done writing books because it is difficult to make money that way.

Glen informed the class that the world of journalism has transformed since he began his career and warned them that it will continue to change. He explained that journalism is not what it used to be and how he watched it change over the course of his career. After Craigslist came about, he watched how newspaper advertisements were reduced to just one-third of what they used to be. He predicted that print format newspaper and magazines will eventually cease to exist and everything will shift to the online format.

Glen’s advice to make it in modern-day journalism is to practice different writing styles; establish yourself as a writer, and find out what makes you unique. He explained that if you put in the time, your writing will improve. “Write every day and read people who write well,” Glen told the class. By building a good vocabulary and allowing yourself to receive criticism you will become a better writer.