04 August 2015

review: otaku journalist's 15 minute workbook

Lauren Orsini wants you to write.

In fact, she wants you to write about the things you care about: so much so, that she now has a workbook out for the aspiring writer. It's billed as part of her Otaku Journalism series, and you can see it here (it's currently on pre-order special until August 6): http://otakujournalist.com/workbook/

I received a review copy, expecting myself to already know the tips in the workbook. After all, I already have the Otaku Journalism ebook also written by Lauren and by now I have written for various online publications aside from Study of Anime.

I was pleasantly surprised: and reminded how little I knew.

The workbook is designed so each sheet could be potentially completed in 15 minutes or less: perfect for those with school obligations or other jobs. However, some sheets - such as finding a beat - might take more thinking and reflecting than others. Each sheet is focused, and you'll want to refer to them or amend them over time: because of that, what I'd recommend is getting a binder, printing out the worksheet, and having the worksheet in the binder with plenty of paper or notes to serve as a "master reference" as you go about your writing adventures. That way you can keep track of pitches, where you've submitted, ideas for future articles, and more in the same place as your initial thoughts on beat, resources, contacts, and upkeep.

The quality of it is similar to the Writer's Digest published books on writing reference, but Lauren is mindful of what people are using and what they want to see. And a high-quality workbook and reference for $10 is a hard deal to beat.

People come to us asking us how they can do what we do: if you're interested in the writing angle, we turn to Lauren for tips and tricks.




No comments:

Post a Comment