Luke O’ Neil[1] very kindly agreed to be interviewed as part of my research into blogging and the value of the typed word. Luke is a regular contributor to the Boston Globe, Esquire, Bullett & MTV Buzzworthy. He has previously suggested the necessity for young writers to give away their work for free[2] and he is a blogger himself. I asked Luke some questions in order to gain a greater understanding of his opinions and his experiences. Luke’s answers give an interesting insight into blogging & writing and further provided sound advice for any novice writer.
At what point do you believe that written work becomes worthy of a monetary value?
Well, a capitalistic reading of it would say that if someone is willing to pay you for them then it has value, and if they aren’t then it doesn’t. But that’s a bit simplistic, because you may have simply not found the appropriate marketplace in which to sell your goods. I think most people, if they’re being honest, can tell when they’ve done something that has taken time and effort and is something that someone would actually want to read. Although this sort of perspective comes with having spent time in the business, so maybe most younger writers are clueless and think everything they’ve done is great. That’s probably the case now that I think of it. I was an idiot when I was young too.
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Scribblings and Broken Glass 