Bwah!

::secretly writes love letters to Teppy, with no mentions of Mr. Ed included WHATSOEVER::

This is well over 100 words because it was way to much fun to break the rules.

With Apologies to Mr. Ed (and Teppy)

“Which one was your hero when you were little?” That grass over there looked appealing. It was under the tree, a nice shady patch where he could escape the heat of the sun and dine in leisure.

“Well, I have to admit I think Silver was my greatest hero. He got to carry the Lone Ranger and fight off all kinds of bad men. He even got shot at! Bullets bouncing right off his chin!” The grass came up with a ripping sound.

“Dunno. His heroism was by association. What did he ever do on his own? Look at Trigger. Now, he could count and do all kinds of nifty tricks. Plus, he was actually a bigger star after he was dead. Have you seen his shrine? Now, there was a trailblazer.” Oh, the grass felt so good on his back. Right there, oh, yeah.

“What about Ed?” Another ripping sound as more grass was pulled.

“Are you kidding me? That poseur! He couldn’t even speak for himself, had to have that silly Wilbur around to do his talking for him. Ever hear of ventriloquism?” A loud snort and a dismissive shake of the tail and he rolled over on to his side to nap a while before taking a lap or two around the paddock to check out the ladies.

Hokay, writerly types: A question.

Say youse wants to submit a writing sample to a place. The place asks for your 6-10 page spec (no problem, already done the first draft) and a resume.

Say you've never published anything except your not-so-often-updated blog.

What would you put for a resume? What would a writing resume look like?

...

...HALP!!

It depends where and what you're submitting, Joe.

For instance, when I was editing fiction, it was always nice to hear that a potential author had experience writing for newspapers or similar, but only because I knew (or hoped) it meant they would have some sense of professionalism and deadlines. That said, writing for newspapers doesn't mean you can write fiction, and vice versa.

I know most of the big magazines want clips (usually published) before they'll consider working with you.

For smaller, local newspapers, you can usually work on spec, or chat with an editor to get your foot in the door.

In this case -- not knowing where exactly you're submitting -- I would submit your writing sample with a resume that emphasizes any writing experience you've had in any of your jobs. Did you work on a paper or magazine in college? In high school? Did you write ... I don't know, scripts for sales calls or training manuals?

The editor will probably judge mostly based on your sample, but it's always good to have a resume with all the particulars on hand, too -- my bet is the resume is more for that purpose.

But I could be talking out of my ass because I don't really know what you're writing for. Share!

It's for a television thing. Aimee sent me an ad that asked for submissions...they're looking for new writers.

But they want a resume and I don't know what the hell a writing resume even looks like. It's not like former employment. It's not like I can put "2005 - 2006. Livejournal Entries. Some drabbles. Duties included: Not sucking overly much."

*sigh*

You can't? Crap. (Gets offline to rewrite resume.)

But if they're looking for new writers, your sample is going to be much more important than any professional writing experience. Discuss in your cover letter how you've always been interested in TV, blah blah. Also mention any experience you have in that field -- didn't you do some production work, or lighting or something, with ND? That could be more important than the writing experience -- again, your sample has to be what wows them.

Did you do any writing or non-acting stuff for any comedy group? That would probably be worth putting on there.

Oh, there's a good call! Okay, now I'm getting some ideas.

Can I put You'll All Pay on there as well, do you guys think?

Also, how does one format a writing resume?

Yeah, definitely put You'll All Pay on. And I would format it like any other resume.