“[T]reat your work with the utmost respect, and it’ll never let you down.” —Julie Poole
On Saturday, October 11, Julie Poole will teach “Pitch Perfect: Pitching Your Story Idea and Landing a Byline.” In this class, students will learn what vital information to include in a story pitch and what editors are looking for, ultimately crafting the perfect pitch for online magazines and news outlets.
Julie Poole is a poet, journalist, and filmmaker based in Austin. Her first book of poems, Bright Specimen, was inspired by the Billie L. Turner Plant Resources Center at UT. Her second book Gorgeous Freak is out now. She has published poems in Poet Lore, Cold Mountain Review, and Denver Quarterly. Her essays and journalism can be found in the Texas Observer, Texas Monthly, Bon Appétit, HuffPost, The Baffler, Slate, and The Nation. She is currently working on a memoir. For fun, she writes short stories about terrible jobs.
Here’s what Julie had to share with us:
Who are your earliest influences? What people and books made you a writer?
Julie Poole: As a kid, I had a set of Flower Fairies books by Cicely Mary Barker. Looking back, these beautifully illustrated books probably ignited an early interest in botany.
I would say Whitman’s Leaves of Grass solidified my dream of becoming a writer. Also, I was heavily influenced by the Seattle music scene in the nineties, and thought if I couldn’t afford an instrument then, at the very least, I could pick up a pen.
What writing challenges have you faced? What have these challenges taught you about your process?
JP: Too numerous to count really. Growing up low-income, the paths presented were narrowly defined. I worked a lot of service industry jobs just to get time to write. These sorts of jobs helped make it easier to talk to people. Thankfully, I’m well versed in the common issues that come up when you’re working class.
From your perspective, what’s the most rewarding part about being a writer?
JP: Telling stories that haven’t been told yet but somehow feel so deeply familiar. As a reader, I love that feeling of coming across a sentence that is so real and true it takes your breath away. That’s pure magic!
Who do you write for?
JP: Working class people, dreamers, life-long learners, and outcasts.
What do you hope writers will learn from your course?
JP: I hope writers learn that each piece you write is an artform. It’s okay to write puff pieces for money and/or bylines but aim for the stories you really connect with. Be prepared to treat your work with the utmost respect, and it’ll never let you down.
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Thanks, Julie!
Click here to learn more about Julie’s upcoming class.
