Are you curious about journalism? Today the Storytelling Blog visits with Ruth E. “I can write anything”® Thaler-Carter, a full-time freelance journalist, writer, editor, proofreader, and desktop publisher for more than thirty-five years.

Learn more about her and her services at www.writerruth.com. We talked via email about her writing and editing processes.

Ruth’s poem “Life Storage?” was recently included in the St. Louis Writer’s Guild Members Anthology 2024. It was her first-ever published poem.

KB: I understand you have a writing background as a journalist. What distinguishes journalism from other types of nonfiction? How did the field attracted you? Can you tell us about the challenges and rewards?

RETC: Journalism is reporting — it’s fact-based and objective; it’s usually time-sensitive and immediate, while other types of nonfiction can be timeless and can incorporate opinion and subjectivity; it’s people-oriented, while other nonfiction can be historical or about things; it has a certain voice that’s unique to the craft. It’s often performed under pressure and can require compressing a lot of information into a limited amount of space or number of words. Someone can do both journalism writing and other nonfiction.

High School Journalism

I was attracted to journalism way back in high school because I was interested in people and events around me and thought it would be fun to write about them. My first goal was to work on the high school literary magazine, but I wasn’t accepted, so I found an outlet with the local weekly newspaper, which let me write a column about things going on at the school. It was even more fun than I expected and set me on a path that I still follow today. I also started my own magazine that I keep thinking I might revive now!

Challenges and Rewards of Journalism

The challenges of journalism are to remain objective, especially when covering topics that might relate to personal experiences, preferences, and opinions; and to keep up with current events, which can be very demanding and involve working odd hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays. Print journalism can be frustrating because of the time between writing about something and having it reach audiences. The online world has the advantage of immediate publication and updating, although that does create often-unrealistic expectations from publishers and readers.

The rewards are in the people you meet, events you get to attend, and impact you can have on the world around you. Rarely are the rewards monetary; journalism tends not to pay a lot. But the scope can be amazing.

Unlike a lot of nonfiction and fiction writing, especially books, journalism gets you out in the community and connected with real life.

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter

KB: Tell us about your current writing project.

RETC: I have several writing projects underway. I write, edit, and/or proofread for a commercial real estate website, public relations (PR) firm, car audio business, university policy institute, and law firm; magazines, newsletters, and newspapers about the decorative arts, machine computing, gardening, Porsche history, women’s health, diversity, and more. I also own an editing blog and write about freelancing, writing, and related topics there and elsewhere. I’m trying to make time to at least start a memoir, but client projects keep taking precedence.

How did you get into editorial services? What are the challenges and rewards with assisting authors to develop and/or polish their work?

RETC: I got into editorial services thanks to my junior high and high school teachers, who gave me such a substantive grounding in the basics of grammar, usage, punctuation, spelling, etc., that I was usually the one who knew (and cared) the most about those aspects in my early jobs. Even before I had actual reporting and writing jobs, I found ways to add those to my responsibilities, and I would offer to edit or proofread whatever the organization produced. I always knew I wanted to write; I never expected to be a skilled editor and proofreader as well. Doing all three has given me a more consistent and fulfilling career than only one or the other. 

Helping Authors

The main challenge of helping authors develop and/or polish their work is that many are very nervous about being edited or even proofread, so it’s important to be sensitive to that emotion and tactful in suggesting or making changes. Some authors resist the expertise and advice of an editor; some can even be rude, reject our input, ignore boundaries by calling after hours or pushing against deadlines, refuse to pay or pay very late, etc. There are times when someone in my position should cancel a project for self-protection, and even tell an author not to acknowledge or mention my services. Luckily, I’ve had very few such experiences. 

KB: What is your typical workday? Work week? Do you have any tips on juggling multiple projects?

RETC: In a typical workday, I write, edit, and/or proofread projects for two to five clients; do a couple of interviews for stories; and pitch a story idea to a prospective client. I spend a couple hours on Facebook, primarily to keep up with writing and editing groups. I usually work from about 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., take a break to run errands or relax a bit, then do a couple more hours of work in the evenings.

A typical week might include attending an event to write about for one of my clients, participating in a Zoom or in-person meeting with colleagues (sometimes as the presenter), and setting time aside for administrative tasks, from sending out invoices to updating my website to filing receipts and clippings (work samples).

Time Management in Journalism

I juggle projects by deadline, giving the most-urgent or time-sensitive request priority. If a couple of short pieces and a longer, more complex one are all due on the same day, I’ll do the short ones first to get in the mood to get stuff done. It helps to have a to-do list, especially because checking off finished items feels so good.

It’s just me and my cat, so I must be conscious of the importance of short breaks throughout the day and stepping away from work, especially on the weekends. I love what I do, and it’s often too easy to be so immersed in a project that I forget to get up and move around, stop for a snack, or go out for a walk in good weather. of

I do make time for pro bono projects and making art. And I write about both!

KB: Has editing other people’s work impacted on your own writing process?

RETC: Editing other people’s work has made me even more careful about my own writing, appreciative of my training and experience, aware of certain kinds of tics and lazy habits to avoid, and comfortable with my own voice. Sometimes it even gives me an ego boost.

KB: What does storytelling mean to you?

RETC: I see storytelling as going beyond the who-what-when-where-how facts to bringing causes, consequences, emotions, experiences, depth, and insights to light. It’s weaving a narrative that makes the reader want to know more and perhaps take action.

Bio:

Thaler-Carter is the author/publisher of “Get Paid to Write! Getting Started as a Freelance Writer”; author of the original “Freelancing 101: Launching Your Editorial Business” booklet for the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) and co-author of the current edition. She is co-author of the current edition of the EFA’s “Resumés for Freelancers” booklet; and owner of the An American Editor blog, Communication Central, and the A Flair for Writing publishing business.

Journalism Awards

 She received the Philip M. Stern Award from Washington Independent Writers for service to freelancers and a Big Pencil Award from Writers and Books for her contributions to the Rochester, NY, literary community. Thaler-Carter was also inducted into her high school alumni hall of fame for her networking and communications activities. She created Communication Central’s Be a Better Freelancer^® conference in 2006 and has hosted it every year since.

Journalism Organizations

Known as the “queen of networking,” Thaler-Carter is vice president for marketing of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) St. Louis chapter. She is the immediate past recording and corresponding secretary of the Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists, resource coordinator of the Freelance Community of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), former newsletter editor of the EFA, Freelance Committee chair for the American Society of Business Publications Editors, Board of Experts-Networking member of the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors, director of communications and newsletter editor for the St. Louis Publishers Association, and a member of the National Federation of Press Women’s 2024 conference team.

Thaler-Carter has presented in-person and online sessions about editing and proofreading to the St. Louis Writer’s Guild, SLPA, ACES: The Society for Editing, Writers and Books, the EFA, SPJ, International Association of Business Communicators, Society for Technical Communication, Cat Writers’ Association, Editors Canada, and the UK’s Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading, among other organizations.

If you enjoyed this interview, you might like to hear some thoughts from Michael Nye, editor of Story Magazine. He is also a novelist and short story author.

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