Tyler Watamanuk

Tyler Watamanuk is a New York-based writer, producer, and sometimes photographer. He grew up in a sunny Los Angeles suburb and has written for The New York Times, GQ, Vice, and others.

Let's start at the beginning. Tell us about how you first got into professional writing (and contributing to major publications like the NYT, GQ, and others.)

I started writing for smaller blogs and grew pretty slowly from there, which is a pretty common path for most writers these days. I still can trace a pretty clear line from where I am now to where I first started.

My first break was writing a couple of stories for a website called The Hundreds which led to a steady freelance gig at Complex. (And my time with Complex probably opened the doors for me at GQ.) From there, I just started to pitch larger publications.

I see that you write a lot about fashion, pop culture, and comedy. What drew you to those topics? Was it previous work experience that gave some contextual background in that area, or was it purely interest-based?

I still have a day job so most of the writing assignments I take on are based on my own interests. (And I mostly pitch stories off what I know.) Having a built-in knowledge definitely lets me hit the ground running and for a more efficient workflow.

Occasionally I’ll get an assignment or an idea that requires me to do some heavy research into a topic I’m not familiar with, but most of my beats are informed by my own passions.

You're also a photographer, so is there often overlap with your writing work? Do you shoot the photos for the stories you write, and if so, do you feel like that gives you a unique angle that helps your pitches land?

It doesn’t overlap too often. I’ve put much more effort and time into developing as a writer which means my skills as a photographer are not at the level that a major publication would want to pay for.

For better or worse, I know my own limitations as a photographer and work within those. That said, there have been a few times when I’ve been able to shoot images for a story. As much as I’d like to say it’s a unique angle that helps a pitch land, I think the main advantage it gives me is that it’s cheaper for the editor and then get both the story and imagery in one neat package.

Speaking of pitching...let's talk about that. What have you learned about landing pitches and crafting an interesting idea that catches an editor's eye?

Pitching still feels like playing darts in the dark. I’ve had some pitches get rejected by six or seven publications before finally finding a home.

The biggest thing I’ve tried to teach myself (and something I am still learning) is to be patient. As a writer, there is often this feeling of striking while the iron is still hot—especially with the speed that our culture moves these days. I think it’s really important to find a balance of not polishing a story angle for too long, but also not rushing a pitch out the door.

What's a common misconception about the work you do that drives you crazy?

I wish more people knew about all the groundwork that goes into the stories they read online or in magazines. Sure, it's not on readers to care about all the unpaid work that went into actually pitching the idea or pre-reporting on it, but I think more freelance writers should be talking about how hard some stories can be to bring to life.

What's one piece of advice you have for writers that you learned the hard way?

Don't spend too much time in your own head.