LADY LUCK IN WRITING

By Diana Lee

The only desire for writing I once held was to recapitulate my Technicolor life with neither regrets nor guilt — in a “tell-all” memoir. Thus, I’ve been searching for the pithy meaning of life from world travels, enriching experiences, and working and living overseas. But something auspicious happened that drew me into the world of professional writing sooner than I expected.

As a subscriber to a prestigious English newspaper in Japan, I decided to voice my opinion on a particular issue in a letter to the editor. It was published among seven other letters a week later. To my surprise, two more of my letters appeared in print within a month! Feeling lucky that every letter I wrote was published, I joked with a friend that if the newspaper published another letter, then I would apply for a job as a writer. A week later, my fourth submitted letter was printed on the editorial page!

The possibility of being hired without any substantial writing experience was quite slim in the sphere of dog-eat-dog media. In keeping my word, I applied for a writing position with a monthly magazine based in Tokyo. The magazine had a list of impressive staff writers; some of them had worked for the major newspapers in Japan. Along with an almost apologetic cover letter, I sent newspaper clippings of letters to the editor as my only published works.

For the first week, every time the phone rang I jumped, but my hope started to wane as days went by without a word. At the end of the fourth week, I gave up the wild assumption of ever landing a job as a writer.

While I was cooking dinner one night, the phone rang. Shocked and speechless, I heard the editor of the magazine introduced himself on the other end of the line! He decided to put me on a trial run with a writing assignment — to cover a Japanese cultural topic along with several photos. It was only after I hung up the phone, I realized my dinner was burnt.

In writing for magazines, to come up with a timely topic two months in advance wasn’t easy, and to get photos for the topic was even more difficult. Since the article was to appear in the February issue, I chose to write about the showmanship of Japanese weddings to coincide with Valentine’s Day. Fortunately, I’d attended several Japanese weddings and knew married couples that could provide me with attractive photos for the story. To clinch a staff position, I had to turn in a perfect piece.

When the phone rang again, I held my breath as the editor’s voice boomed in my ears: “I’m impressed with your wedding article. How would you like to fill in for our feature cover story writer who’s on vacation for March?”

My mouth dropped open, my heart skipped a beat. Wow, was I lucky to be in the RIGHT PLACE at the RIGHT TIME! Thrilled to be given the top assignment, I poured all my effort and time into producing the best account of the nefarious occult Aum Shinrikyo that had been plaguing Japan. Skipping meals and sometimes sleep, I slaved over draft after draft until the final version was submitted ten minutes before the deadline.

Then, I heard nothing more.

A few weeks later, a letter from the editor arrived at my door. Enclosed was a one-year contract for writing feature stories along with a paycheck for three times the original negotiated amount!!!

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