So often, we believe we have to put our daytime work aside in order to write and in order to reach the place inside ourselves where writing comes from. But I believe we will be more successful at tapping into and mining the writing part of ourselves if instead of always waiting for the time to clear in our lives to dig deep, we also invent writing opportunities based on our work and seek publishing opportunities for such writing. If we use work to help us express our perceptions and reach out to others, we will more easily make room for more writing in our lives, and we may also feel happier at work. Lack of agitation about our work, will also clear our minds for writing!

Writing It Real‘s Kurt VanderSluis has an extensive background in computer networking and is recently less interested in servicing large corporate networks and more interested in helping small business owners and individuals with their computers and digital information storage. He is outraged at the scare tactics he thinks newspapers usually employ about using the Internet due to spyware and adware and other security issues. He believes articles written on computing for the general public are about creating fear and/or selling things, but that people are better served by articles that inform them about enjoying the use of their computers and helping them feel competent to combat problems as they arise. So, he recently approached the editor of the Peninsula Daily News about writing a technical column for its readership on the mainly rural peninsula that the paper serves. The editor said he would be interested in seeing an article by Kurt, but it had to have a local slant to distinguish it from the articles they receive from the wire services and pay no extra to receive.

Kurt went to work on an article with a 500-word limit. He decided to focus the first column on an aspect of using his computer that he really enjoys and thought others, especially those far from major metropolitan areas, would, too:

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Internet Radio
by Kurt VanderSluis

On the Olympic Peninsula, we have many advantages over our more densely populated countrymen, but a robust radio dial isn’t one. Internet radio is the perfect supplement for our local choices; there are abundant sources for every taste. If you want to catch up with news from the BBC’s World Service, listen to your home town baseball announcer call the play-by-play, tune in to live feeds of police and fire scanners or hear famous archived radio like FDR’s Pearl Harbor address or Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech”, you’ll love the radio and audio resources available through the Internet.

It isn’t hard. You’ll need: 1) a computer with an Internet connection, 2) a media player application and 3) a guide to available stations.

 Every media source on the Internet has a “streaming bit rate” associated with it that tells how fast the data is delivered. Higher bit rates sound better in the way that FM sounds better than AM. With a broadband connection, every audio source on the Internet is within your reach. With dialup, choose sources that are compatible with your connection speed. As a rule of thumb, use a stream 75% or less of your connection speed. For example, with a dialup connection speed of 44K, you can listen to an audio source that is 33K or below. Talk radio works well at these low bit rates; music sources at 32K and below are clear but a little thin. If you’re on broadband, choose sources with higher bit rates for a richer sound.

In addition to your Internet connection, you must download free programs called media players. Some stations and sound sources require a particular player, such as Real Networks’ RealPlayer, while others are okay with multiple players. For either Windows computers or Macintosh, download the latest versions of RealPlayer and Windows Media Player. In addition to these, for Windows and Mac OSX, download Apple’s iTunes and you’ve got 95% of the audio world covered.

Now you are ready to locate your programming. The three media players provide a way to browse a variety of online programming. Much of this programming is available for free, although each player tries to sell you subscription services or entice you to purchase online music. I like iTunes Radio the best for its variety, quality and lack of pressure to purchase.

In addition to media sources available from the players, there are many websites to help you locate Internet-only radio stations. My favorite is shoutcast.com — again, wide variety of quality programming with little sales pressure.

If you’re trying to find a “brick and mortar” station like WDIA, “the voice of the Mississippi Delta”, use Google to find the station’s website and see if it has a simulcast stream (it does) or archives of past shows (it doesn’t). The link for the simulcast stream on a station’s web page usually includes the word “Listen” or an icon of a loudspeaker.

There’s nothing like tapping into the sounds and news of the country and world at your convenience.

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Kurt offered to make a special webpage with quick links to every site he mentioned, but the editor didn’t think this article was enough like what he had in mind to merit publishing. What he wanted was information on local computing clubs and organizations or maybe profiles on computer businesses on the peninsula. Kurt didn’t really relish doing the research and interviews for such columns–he was more interested in making his know-how and experience using the computer for pleasure and work accessible to others, who might then ask him to help them learn how to do what he does.

It is certainly tempting for Kurt to give up on his idea of the computing columns since the editor didn’t want to run this one. However, if he considers other options for what he might do with his article aimed at helping others enjoy the sense of fun and security he experiences computing, he might encourage himself to continue writing the columns and articles he wants to write. The more samples he has to show editors, the more they will see that he is serious about turning articles out, and he will appear to be a good bet as a columnist. Moreover, the more articles he writes, the more he’ll see possibilities for where to place them. There are certainly other newspapers in his area that might be interested in his columns, ranging from an alternative newspaper to the food coop newsletter to a business journal. He might share a few of his columns with the editor of the Sunday Section of the Peninsula Daily News and see if that editor might find his approach more appealing than the news editor. He could approach the local Chamber of Commerce about handing out an article a month at Chamber meetings that are open to the public. He might research magazines at the newsstands in town to see what niche magazine might want an article from the store he writes. If he keeps his search going, he will also find inspiration for more articles on topics inspired by his job and the people he enjoys reaching.

The lesson here is this: writing from your day job knowledge and training and then finding a way to get that writing in front of others who are interested in what you have to say will help you focus on your ability to make a difference through your writing. Accomplishment breeds more accomplishment, so, if you are feeling pinched for writing time, one remedy is this one: Don’t quit your day job (and most of us can’t no matter how much we want to), write about it.” You will find that you make more time to write and have less trouble getting down to it. You will spend less time thinking “if only I had the time to write” thoughts and more time writing.