Calling All Writers, Creative Individuals, and Those Who Wanna Be Heard

[Fathoms77]

You've got something to say and you want lots and lots of people to see it.

You can put it on your Facebook page, I suppose. So okay, friends and family can see it but that's about it. You can try to produce something for BuzzFeed or Cracked but even after it's posted, you're competing against eight trillion other posts and chances are, about three people will see yours. You can go for the upper digital echelon and try to get published at places like the Huffington Post and Elite Daily, but their requirements are getting stricter by the minute and amateurs likely won't have a shot.

So, what's left?

Why, GirlsAskGuys, of course. If you're going to - or are already in - school for journalism, creative writing, or some form of digital production, you could use an outlet to hone your craft. Here, you write as much as you like; just sign up, go to Post on the top of the screen, and hit "Share myTake." That's it. But here's the best part:

You will "level up" the better you perform. You can earn experience (we call it XPER) and gain levels, and you might even become an Editor! You will get comments and feedback on your work from the GaG community, and you will even get some instruction from our Content Manager (that would be me). I can help you create awesome content that will be Promoted and even Featured, and don't forget that most Promoted material here ends up on our Facebook and Twitter pages, too, where thousands more can see your stuff.

We'll be doing more contests as well (here are the winners of our last contest) and you could even win Amazon Gift Cards! It's all about getting better and being rewarded for your efforts.

Of course, you can also ask Questions, start Polls, and interact with the rest of the growing community. Once you start, you might not be able to stop...and that's not a bad thing. ;) Bottom line is, where else can you find a good-sized platform that lets you produce just about anything you like - within reason; check our guidelines - AND gives you feedback and instruction for free? It's perfect for all you young people who have a lot to say. You could be the next great online content producer and we'd love it if you started right here.

Want to learn more? Well, just sign up and start writing and see how it works! And feel free to check out our FAQ page, too.

[meatballs21]

I have a degree in Journalism and it is mostly dead as a profession. When I graduated (2002) it was starting to die. A decade and a half later and print is well and truly on the way out. The internet means that anyone and everyone with a keyboard can self-publish. The immediacy of the internet means that it's now more about being the first to break a story than covering it accurately - it's far easier to issue corrections or retractions later than it is to actually investigate properly and risk being beaten to the punch.

My co-worker's daughter is just about to start her degree and is still idealistic. I have warned her mother that she needs to have a proper skillset to support her in the real world while she works on her writing and tries to build her connections and reputation.

What I'm saying is: by all means hone your craft, but don't expect to make money from it.

[Fathoms77]

That really depends. I worked for the newspapers as well, and I know true journalism is essentially dead.

However, good content writers are in great demand and will continue to be in demand. It's an entirely different skill-set, granted, but it's still writing and presenting for an audience. Check job boards and type in "content writer" or "content editor" and you'll come up with hundreds of listings.

It's a legitimate, growing, and well-paying position for all the larger sites, which is why doing things like this - writing for GaG and learning - can be hugely helpful, because it's getting people prepared for this world, as opposed to the print journalism world... which, as you say, is basically gone.

[meatballs21]

I'm going to defer to your experience, since I have not pursued the profession after seeing that the median income for content writers is a middling $38,000 Canadian. A decent administrative assistant will make more than that!

Now, if you have actual tangible experience of a specialised field, then you can get somewhere. I know someone who has a law degree and makes a lot of money writing up information for cases. Likewise, if you are experienced in anything else, you will have people who want to hear about what you've learned from that experience. For that reason, I think pursuing writing (and solely writing) as your career is folly because what are you going to write about? Your life? Everyone has a blog. Something creative? Best of luck being discovered from the scores of others who have story ideas. However, if you take your passion for writing and don't forget it, if you go out and get what I regret having to call a proper job...

[meatballs21]

... then you will potentially have some earning potential from writing.

[Fathoms77]

Yes, but we're not talking about blogs. Blogs are essentially worthless and way outdated, and they made no money for 99.99% of the people who did them. But we're talking about content writers for major websites, which goes well beyond just writing (usually) and can - and often does - become something that is a legit, and long-lasting career.

Online journalism isn't "journalism" in the strictest sense of the word. But millions of website owners often need someone to write, edit, produce, etc.

[justbanANNAz]

I'm just here to attest to how amazing this place is as a platform for anyone who wants to get a message across. the ability to reach out is awesome, and hearing from others that they love your stuff and are inspired by you is just the icing on the cake. <3

[JRICHARDS1996]

Can you give us any hints on what the next contest will be? As an English major, I've been waiting for an opportunity to hone my craft. But I was unable to participate in the last contest due to finals.

[Fathoms77]

Coming within the next few weeks. :) It'll focus more on the content presentation, though writing will always be important.

[SovereignessofVamps]

So since you work for this site, did you still have to post a lot to get your points and mod status or did they just give them to you when you were hired? I am so curious.

[Fathoms77]

A combination of both but I wrote plenty. :)

[itsallover]

I've heard stories of people on here having their takes edited without their permission. How can I guarantee mine will be posted exactly the way I wrote it?

[Fathoms77]

Most all Takes are edited; they have to be if they're going to be fit for widespread consumption. Of course, the better people get, the less editing is required.

Think of it this way: If you're an intern at a newspaper or magazine, you can't demand the editors never touch your work... that defeats the purpose of the internship and you learn nothing. And those editors are likely to dice up your work in ways that you might find appalling (a heavy sort of editing we NEVER do).

All we do is give really great ideas and concepts better headlines and spruce up the presentation a bit; i. e., add some images if there's a giant wall of text, correct some spelling, make it look more attractive with bold headlines, etc. This is about learning how to produce great online content and nobody is born with that knowledge. :)

You can always write whatever you like. And as I said, the better you get, the less we touch it.

[Fathoms77]

Let me add that I'll almost always tell someone when I've done some light editing, and they reserve the right to say, "oh, I don't like that headline, can we come up with something else?" Writers have some pretty strong personalities, so we don't want to squash enthusiasm; we just want to help. :)

[ZeatZed]

Hmm... It would be a good means of honing my craft since I'm hoping to go to grad school for journalism.

[Fathoms77]

It would indeed. :)

[LilWeezey]

I get promoted a lot.
I still don't know how to become an editor of I wanted to

[Fathoms77]

Just keep writing. :)

[RedRobin]

Yeah, I've written so many takes and most of them have been promoted and I still have no idea how to become an editor lol

[Fathoms77]

@RedRobin Want to be one? Message me and I can take a look at your Takes. :)

[Ruff2muffs]

If I write an erotic fiction is that ok to post if I label it as such?

[Fathoms77]

You mean here? Yeah, just make sure the images you include aren't explicit.

[Ruff2muffs]

Ok thanks😊

[EllieLexis513]

I was a Secondary Education major with a focus on English and Creative writing, but I got my degree 4 years ago lol, I don't count anymore

[vonasaurus]

i'm a literature major~ this could be fun; i've never written any takes before, but i could always start, i suppose.

[justbanANNAz]

definitely! I'm a lit major too. you must give it a go. :)

[vonasaurus]

@justbanANNAz woot, word nerds unite :)

i think i'll do that. cheers!

[PineappleBreath]

So you want people to work for free so you don't have to pay peope to produce content? Good old crowd sourcing so you can get shit done while sitting on your ass

[Fathoms77]

99% of all websites with any content at all use volunteer writers. And those running the sites are hardly sitting on their asses.

[PineappleBreath]

Most of those sites also have paid writers too. Since they get paid the quality tends to be a lot better. It's not coincidence that 99% of the content is garbage to. If you gave writers some money I guarantee that the my takes would actually be funny or insightful.

[Fathoms77]

Thank you for the insight, but we're all well aware. And you're only thinking of sites of a certain size and visibility, which constitute about 1/10000th of the websites on the Internet.

At any rate, your first comment was both offensive and ignorant. Let's just leave it at that.

[PineappleBreath]

Yeah its ignorant getting paid for work...

[Fathoms77]

No, it's ignorant to not have a clue about how the overwhelming majority of websites operate.

[PineappleBreath]

More like it's ignorant to not how to get actual writers to produce content. I guess you could go the huff post route and create a network of bloggers whose content runs through your site. I have just seen so many site go down the drain after using crowd sourced content like cracked. Having actual staff makes sites a lot better

[Mustachekitteh]

I never win contests on here, due to how much I suck at writing. 😿

[Anonymous]

For what it is worth, I submitted a myTake, and it was edited by GAG, and ended up being much better than my original:) I appreciated the help.

[caligirl03]

Is this a paid gig?

[Fathoms77]

Just volunteer. Look at it as an internship of sorts. :)

[Anonymous]

What the next contest will be about?

[bcromartie]

Pay me!