Don't hesitate to pull strings or use blackmail to get a job writing," Richard G. De Rochemont '28, producer of the "March of Time" and John M. Clark, publisher of the Claremont, N.H. Daily Eagle, agreed at a job forum on writing careers last night in the Union Lower Common Room.
Helen Everitt, New York editor of Houghton Mifflin pointed out how difficult it is to get into publishing. She concurred with De Rochemont and Clark that writing jobs are tough with long hours and low pay the first few years.
"We get an average of three job applications a week" said Clark, "and we have about three openings a year."
Movies Not for Art's Sake
De Rochemont and Clark agreed that both journalism and writing for the movies are not writing for art's sake. De Rochemont said "I have nothing to say to real writers; the trouble is," he said smiling, "that many of these people have to be kept alive."
The first few years of writing will be a war of attrition said De Rochemont, but he advised that any huckstering or hack writing job is better than not writing at all. He warned that good writers are often ruined when they take jobs in business.
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