10 Questions for Luke O'Neil
Luke O'Neil is a regular contributor to the Boston Globe, Esquire, Mediaite, MTV Buzzworthy, and one of my personal favorite publications, Bullett Media. His work has appeared in the Village Voice, Vice, Slate, The New Republic, the LA Times, Alternative Press, the Wall Street Journal, Gawker, and Dazed Magazine.
Luke answered some questions I had on writing about pop culture, inappropriate Tweets, and self doubt.
How do you define success in your writing?
Success can either be outwardly or inwardly perceived, depending on the case. If something is widely shared, that's great, but it doesn't always mean it's good. Often times something I spent ten minutes crapping out is a lot more popular than things I spent a week researching and reporting. It's the latter that makes me happier though. The satisfaction of a job well done, even if no one else really sees it. There's also the thrill of having your peers and people you respect like something you've done. Sometimes no one will react to something I've written besides a handful or friends or other writers I admire, and that's good enough.
Also the fact that I can make a living. That's about it. Work, as I always tell younger writers who ask me for advice, is work.
One thing I've always admired about you as a writer is the way you cover pop culture. You don't completely buy into it, but you don't completely chastise it either. It's creative and refreshing. Are you fascinated or repulsed by pop culture? Or both? Do you choose which aspects of pop culture you'll write about or are these things assigned to you?
Thanks, that's nice of you to say. Funny enough, this is something I just addressed in a piece this week about the whole #normcore thing that everyone was talking about for a while there: http://bit.ly/1hZIbNt
First off, however, as someone writing about culture, music, film, whatever, online, you can't really afford to focus only on high brow or esoteric material. You have to cast a wide net when you're looking for things to write about, or taking assignments. For the most part, at this point for me, the things I write about tend to come from me pitching to editors. But it works the other way around often enough. The beauty in freelancing, or having enough work if you're lucky, is that you can say no to things you really don't want to cover at all. That said, there are a few publications I write for where I don't always like the stuff that much personally, but you have to approach it objectively and understand why the people who do like it do. Or you can just completely shit on it. Either one!
Back to the normcore thing though. I think, personally, that disdaining pop culture is ten times lamer than liking it. Oh, wow, you think Miley Cyrus is bad? What a brave stance. Popular music is popular for a reason. A lot of times it's awful, but it's not de facto awful. A critic recognizes the distinction, and can talk about why that is. A good one anyway.
In the same vein, do you think that to be a successful journalist, one should expect to write about celebrities at some point in their career?
I think I addressed this above, but yes. It's funny, I write for some sites that are perceived to be more cutting edge or whatever, and if I post about a celebrity people will complain sometimes. Meanwhile I'll have just posted about some brand new band or artist or author and no one clicked on it or shared it. It's a necessary evil for most sites. We need people to look at the site or we'll go out of business. It's the rare publication that can pay the bills on avant garde.
To me, it seems that you're not afraid of writing "offensive" things in a public forum, specifically Twitter. I know if I asked my old professors about Tweeting something inappropriate, they'd warn heavily against it. When did you feel that you were established enough to say whatever the fuck you wanted to online?
I often wonder why some of the more old guard traditional places I have written for for a long time have never said anything to me about toning it down. In part that's because I'm a freelancer, so don't really technically represent any of the places I write for in an official capacity, so there's more leeway.
I had a discussion about this with a writer friend the other day who is also somewhat of a brick thrower. In part it's because, living in Boston instead of New York, he said, gives me more freedom to sort of launch missiles at people form the outside.
I recognize all of this sounds super self important and douchey to explicitly say, by the way.
But, the point is, for every person who might be offended by being aggressively critical or coarse online, there is going to be another one who appreciates someone telling it like it is. I'm sure I've Tweeted myself out of a potential job and then right back into one many many times.
How do you feel about the fact that Bullett has gone completely digital? As a former newspaper editor, are you nostalgic for print media in general?
Bullett was a beautifully designed print magazine, and the tablet is still great looking. But I've mostly been involved with the site for the past couple years. I still do a good percentage of my work for print pubs, like the Boston Globe, where I've beee contributing for about ten years, so I do appreciate the legacy of print. I don't read print anymore, however. I don't know that I miss it, except on rare occasions where it's a respite from the oppression of the screen.
What is the dynamic at Bullett between contributors and the editor(s)? Do you have a chance to interact with a lot of people on staff?
I do most of my interacting with the digital editor Ben Barna. We pass ideas back and forth all day. Sometimes he'll see something up my alley and give me an idea, or vice versa. He gives me a lot of leeway, however, and for that I'm thankful. That sort of “telling it like it is” approach I take there often has, as I said above, gotten me a lot of offers from other publications, so I'm thankful for that. I meet the rest of the staff here and there when I go down to NY for events. I was just there for the launch of the new store in Tribeca. It's super cute.
On your website you call yourself a "journalist." Can you explain why you have it in quotes?
Sometimes I am journalist. Sometimes I am a blogger. I still believe the two are very different things. I don't know what the split is now, maybe 40% journalist. That's not to say blogging is dumb, or frivolous, although it often is, it's just a very different thing than reporting. I have the utmost respect for hard working, old style Journalists. Sometimes I live up to those lofty standards, other times I write poop jokes about celebrities.
Have you ever written fiction? If so, what was that experience like? If not, what do you love about nonfiction?
I studied creative writing in grad school, and have published a thing or two here and there over the years. I am not that good at it. I wish I were. I decided a long time ago that no one reads literary fiction anymore, so why devote my life to something that will be even less appreciated, and pays less, than journalism.
How much time would you say you dedicate to writing every week? How much of it feels like work?
It's always work. I was just saying the other day when I had to go review a concert, my job is to go to shows and drink and write about it, but I still complain every time. No matter what you do in life you will complain about it. I ruined everything by taking the two things I really love, music, and cocktails, and writing about them, because now I can't listen to music or drink without having to THINK about it.
It could be a lot worse. I could have an actual job. So I know I'm lucky, believe me.
I am on the computer either reading, writing, or looking for things to write about from the minute I wake up until I go to bed. I don't have weekends or vacations. Then again, I can, working from home, just go stare at the wall for a couple hours if I want to.
A lot of writers I know, myself included, are very self-critical. If you relate to this at all, what do you do to silence your own doubt?
I don't know but if you figure it out let me know. I am my own worst critic. The best way to silence it is to press publish I guess. Too late to do anything about it then. On to the next thing.
Thanks for reading! Follow Luke on Twitter @lukeoneil47
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There's a completely unrelated writing prompt up here. Have a great week!
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