’ August 3, 1980

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Earning while the

did Tae, ma

Tel. 985-2131

A BUSY PLACE these days is the mouth of the Capilano River as the salmon start to swim upstream. Fishermen of
all ages are congregating from early morning until dark with hopes of landing that big one. (Ellsworth Dickson

learn

Freelance writing not an easy way to make a living

“We must be doing
something right,” is the
conclusion of  in-
structor Crawford
Kilian, whose maga-
zine-article.. writing
course at Capilano
College has been an
unqualified success.

Kilian teaches Com-
munications 190 in which
students write three articles
and submit them = to
established periodicals. On
the averagé, about one
student in three has broken
into print before the end of
the course, selling work to
most Lower Mainland and
Victoria newspapers, as well
as local and national
magazines.

“Probably our most
successful student,” said
Kilian, “was a housewife

who sold an article to
Canadian Magazine for

$1,000. Most don’t do that.
‘well, but it’s not unusual. for‘

a student to carn $150 or
$200 for work done in the
course.”

Other magazines that have
bought students’ writing
include Western Living,
Westworld, Artswest, Quill.
& Quire, and The Pravince
Magazine.

According to Kilian, the
students who do best in the
course are people who enjoy
reading and those who have
something to say,
irrespective of their age or
background. The  assign-
ments could total as little as

six pages, but students who
expect someone clse to
provide the ideas.are likely
to’ find «the: NO!
muchto handle

back ? ot ‘

hand, ‘is‘nb’ hiddrance, “One
student last year wasn't even
sure she belonged in the
course because she'd never ©
written anything before,”
pointed out Kilian. “Her first
article sold like a shot to the
Province Magazine.”

But making a living as a
freclancer isn’t easy. Kilian
tries not to downplay the
problems faced by freelance
writers, but emphasizes the
constant demand for
material by newspapers and
magazines, especially trade
and skpecial-interest maga-

with . energy,
and : ' determination ‘might

zines. Guest lecturers in the’

course include professional
writers, editors and
publishers.

An. industrious freelancer
imagination

earn anywhere from a few
hundred to a few thousand
dollars a year, according to
Kilian, but that is not the
only incentive to learning to
write woll.

Kilian has published
numerous articles himself,
both in newspapers and in
specialized journals, as well
as a book on the black

pioneers of British
Columbia, two children's
books, and two successful

science-fiction novels. He
has two more novels
scheduled to be published in
1981

why Am:

o C1 -Sunday News, Augase 3, 1980.

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: }

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980-6724 980-6814

PO:

en