Interview with Writer Amanda Washington

Amanda Washington is a 27-year-old former journalist and aspiring fiction writer. After graduating from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in Journalism, Amanda dedicated herself to covering global issues from a modern and refreshing perspective. After interning at the Connecticut Post, Amanda developed her own online blog focused predominantly on women’s rights issues. Following the success of her blog, Washington has since decided to leave journalism on the backburner and turn her talents to the world of nonfiction.

R: What originally made you want to major in Journalism?

AW: It’s funny but ever since I was little, I can remember wanting to be a journalist. I used to carry a little notebook around with me and write things down that I noticed. I guess I didn’t have a lot of friends.

R: And that stayed with you until college?

AW: Definitely! I didn’t graduate college until about two years ago. I was only attending part time because I had to pay for school myself, so I was waitressing on the side. It didn’t really leave a lot of time to study. Anyway, with everything that was going on in the world at the time, and still today, I remember thinking: how much of the news that I’m reading is unbiased? For every story I read about the election there would be constant conflicting reports. It made me want to get out there and get the stories myself first hand, and become an honest news source for others.

R: Do you think that reporter bias is a big issue in today’s media?

AW: Yes, and the problem is that most people don’t even really realize it. Certain popular news sources such as ABC for example are owned by larger corporations like Disney. That means how they report news and what they chose to report is potentially being controlled by a certain corporate bias.

R: How can the average person who isn’t a Journalist avoid being affected by media bias and make sure that they’re receiving real news?

AW: One thing I’ve learned is never trust just one news source. Get your news from multiple sources and it’s easy to separate fact from fiction. Also, social media tools such as twitter allow for real voices to be heard and news to be spread.

R: What was your favorite story/issue to cover during your time interning at the Connecticut Post?

AW: Well, a lot of what we did cover was local and Fairfield County based which wasn’t that interesting to me. I’ve always been drawn to foreign policy issues. However, I did get the opportunity to assist on a story right around when the Me-Too movement was gaining momentum. That’s what really inspired me to focus on women’s rights issues and start my own blog.

R: What is it about women’s rights issues that you find so captivating?

AW: Other than the fact that I’m a woman (laughs), I think I really previously failed to realize that in a lot of areas of the world women are still treated as second class citizens. They aren’t afforded the same rights as men, and they aren’t protected by their governments. I remember one of the first stories I published on my blog was the rising murder rates due to domestic violence in Latin American countries and realizing that almost no mainstream news sources were talking about it.

R: Do you prefer running a blog over working as a traditional journalist?

AW: Yes, definitely. There are no rules with a blog and there’s no boss or superior telling you what to write about. It’s a really easy way to get your voice heard and to be able to talk about the things you want to talk about.

R: What’s something that you found to be most difficult with running a blog?

AW: I think the most difficult part about writing a blog is finding an audience. In the beginning, I kind of felt like I was writing for myself and it wasn’t really going anywhere. One of the reasons I was so attracted to journalism was the whole idea of getting my voice heard on a larger scale, which I definitely didn’t feel like was happening.

R: So what did you do to combat this issue?

AW: I started posting the links to my posts on my social media accounts, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., It was great because I have about 3,000 “friends” on Facebook that I could reach so easily. Obviously, not all of them paid attention or even clicked on the link, but it was an easy was to gain traction and an audience.

R: What made you want to turn to non-fiction writing?

AW: It was never something I ever seriously considered because actually being able to get a book published seemed like such a far-off dream to me. I guess the fear of failure made me put it off for a long time. But I’ve always written short stories since I was younger, mainly for myself. I’ve never really shared them with anyone, but I really do feel like non-fiction writing is an amazing creative outlet.

R: What type of short stories do you like to write?

AW: All different kinds! Sometimes I like to get into Science Fiction writing, sometimes I do children’s stories. I’m really trying to find my niche. I’ve been working on a magical sort of Harry Potter-esque piece for a while now. Maybe I can turn it into a full blown novel and try to get published one day.

R: What’s your favorite genre?

AW: I’m not sure… I think that the easiest to write are children’s stories because there’s so many different directions you can go. I also love the idea of writing for kids because they really can be greatly impacted by the books they read when they’re younger. I can still remember to this day some of my favorite books when I was like 8 or 9.

R: Do you do a lot of reading now?

AW: Yes, of course! I think a love for reading and a love for writing goes hand in hand. Right now, I’m trying to read a lot of classics for inspiration. I just finished the Great Gatsby which I haven’t read since high school, and now I’m starting Jane Eyre which I’ve actually never read before. Also, back when I was doing journalism and especially my own blog I would wake up every morning and go online and check the daily news stories to try to stay informed.

R: What are some obstacles you’ve found in the world of non-fiction?

AW: Right now, I’m very much in the early stages so I would say that the biggest obstacle I’ve had to face is finding inspiration. It’s a little ironic because I always used to sit down and write whatever popped into my head, but now that I’m actually trying, I’ve been experiencing a little writer’s block. Of course, I haven’t even gotten to the truly difficult part yet like finding an editor or trying to get published. That’ll be a whole new obstacle that I’m not necessarily looking forward to.

R: What is one piece of advice that you can give to other young writers out there?

AW: The single most important advice that I can give is to not let the fear of rejection keep you from pursuing your dreams. If I wasn’t so afraid of being laughed at or shut down by others, I probably would have started focusing on non-fiction writing a long time ago. If writing is something you truly love and have a passion for then go ahead and do it! Even if it’s just for yourself. At the end of the day, you only really have to answer to yourself, so who cares what anyone else thinks?