A friend of mine asked me to write an article for a magazine about Joshua Tree National Park that would be of interest to owners of tent trailers and small campers. I reluctantly accepted, as I really don’t have time for these kinds of projects — they interfere with my camping and backpacking time. He said I could take a few months to complete it. So I proceeded. In the end, the magazine decided to make it a four part series.
NOT A WRITER
I have no desire to become a “writer.” I do write technical manuals as a part of my job, so anything else is a busman’s holiday. I don’t consider my blog to be quality writing; it is just a way to keep my friends and family informed of what’s new with me. The blog is easier than keeping in touch with everyone via phone, emails, letters, or god forbid — texting — all of which are mediums that suck up precious leisure time. So one blog post suffices for everyone I know — if they care to read it. If they don’t care to read it, that is fine by me too. In the end, it means I don’t have to “stay in touch” with a bunch of people.
DO YOU WANT TO BE AN AUTHOR?
One of the problems with writing these days is that it is easy to self-publish a “vanity” book, eBook, or other online genre. Because of this, the standards for writing are meager or worse. If you are an aspiring writer, then try to sell your work to a mainstream periodical or a book publishing company. They pay well and are very demanding when it comes to writing skills. They need quality in order to sell their products. So a writer has to develop the requisite skills to get quality work published. If one of these companies is willing to pay you for your work, then you are probably pretty good. If no one is willing to pay you, then… well you can figure it out for yourself.
It seems today that we, as a society, are willing to accept sub-standard performance in almost any field or endeavor. I see crap writing and readers tell the author it is okay that it is crap. They tell the “author” that attempts are more important than excellence. They tell them that how they feel is more important than how they say it words. Poppycock. If you want to be an author and call yourself one, then you need to do it well.
I don’t claim to be a writer. I have no interest in it. I have no desire to work that hard; I already have a full-time job. So the stuff I write here can be full of poor grammar and spelling. It doesn’t matter because you can’t leave a comment or even contact me via this website. My privacy is more important.
If you are interested in the Joshua Tree article, you will have to subscribe to the magazine. It does have some great pictures, but most of those have been posted here on popupbackpacker.com.
DISCLAIMER
Should you decide to subscribe to the magazine I get no royalties, commissions, other monies, kickbacks, bribes, products, trash & trinkets, gifts, freebies, kudos, recognition, special privleges, self actualization, trail ambassador status, camping ambassador status, or gold stars.
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
Edited on 08-27-2018: I removed the subscription link to the magazine. The magazine folded after my article was published. See, I told you I’m not a writer 🙁