The AG Journey: Career in question
Kathy Riley, long-time friend and pilot of AG
By: Kathy Riley
| October-29-2009
Was it generosity, or pure laziness, that led to the extreme brevity of Deputy Editor Kathy Riley's opening blog?
The usually talkative and hard-working Kathy revealed very little in her first blog, instead opening the door to readers for a question they might like answered.
Some time passed, and a question appeared in the AG Online mailbox that seemed to demand an answer, and fast, from the knowledgeable and indeed generous Kathy.
Aspiring writer and student, Kirstie, asked:
How did you end up writing for AG, and do you have any tips for another writer?
And Kathy's detailed (we told you she was talkative!) and supportive response is as follows:
Hi Kirstie,
Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you...I've actually left AG and moved to Bourke in far-western NSW with my fiance, who's taken a job as a ranger out here. So now I'm entering the scary world of freelancing!
Thanks for your questions. How did I end up writing for AG? Well, it was a pretty roundabout way, really. I started at AG as an editorial assistant about five years ago, and after a bit of time in that position I started writing small bits and pieces for the AG Society newsletter...and it kind of went on from there. It wasn't really a classic career path. I was lucky enough to have wonderful mentors in the office who took a lot of time to teach me the ropes of journalism - i.e. what makes a good lead, tips for interviewing and assignments, the finer points of editing etc. I had a bit of a head start after working for 18 months in an educational publishing company as a production assistant and then production manager, during which time I completed a diploma of book editing and publishing at Macleay College in Sydney. Prior to that I completed an Arts degree at university, majoring in English and History. (That's after trying business, journalism, media and communications, and education!!) And I've always been a scribbler - can't go long without picking up a pen and paper. So I guess I've been practising writing all my life!
It's funny, my resume reads like a dog's breakfast of jobs, bits of degrees and lots of travel, but what I've realised is that being interested in a wide range of things is perfect for publishing or journalism. As a writer or an editor, it's good to be a jack of all trades, because you never know what you're going to be working on from one day to the next.
My best piece of advice - regardless of the fact that I didn't follow it myself - is to write as much as you can. Get involved with your local paper - if you go to uni, join the uni newspaper...write, write, write...start collecting contacts, figure out where your interests lie and see if you can't start making those your areas of speciality. When it comes to getting articles published, it pays to research different magazines and newspapers, so you can "smart bomb" them with your articles. Each publication has a specific editorial stance, tone and style - you can waste a lot of time and energy sending articles out to publications that simply don't publish that type of story.
That's all I can think of at the moment...good luck in Year 12, and I hope you have a successful career in journalism!
Regards,
Kathy Riley