We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ron Chepesiuk. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ron below.
Ron, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I was 38 years old when I sold my first article as a freelance writer. I was a university professor in Ireland on sabbatical . I always wanted to be a writer but wasn’t going to call myself one until I published something. One day I decided I was going to write. I got an assignment from a British publication,, Marathon Runner, to cover Belfast, Northern Ireland’s first marathon, given the political divide in Ireland. I sold the piece for 50 pounds. It cost me more to cover the event than the fee I was paid for writing the article. But I was hooked. I decided upon my return to the US to give myself four years to see where my writing career headed. I got plenty of rejections, but stuck to my goal. Within four years i had established my writing career. As for skills, I learned the importance of marketing and revision. Freelance writing is a craft. You can learn the skills to be successful.
Ron, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a freelance with 35 years experience. I published 43 books., 4000 plus articles, produced three documentaries, and written 23 screenplay, six of which have been optioned. I am disciplined, skilled and dependable as a writer, which is why I have published so much. I have interviewed more than 16,000 people during my career, including such celebrities as Yasser Arafat, Jimmy Carter, James Patterson, Robert Kennedy Jr and Evander Holyfield. I think I am successful; because i have dedicated myself to the craft of writing. I believe that we may not be able to write like Hemingway or Faulkner but with practice and persistence we can get good enough to become a practicing writer. Freelance writing is a craft, not an art.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
As a freelance writer, you have accept rejection as part of your life,, no matter how successful you become. When i first started out, would send out queries to magazines pitching ideas. I would post the rejection letters I received. on the wall until there was no more space for them. I knew the trick was: the more queries I sent, the better chance I had of getting published. It’s like baseball. A player has 3 hits out of 10 and had a.333 batting average. Another player gets ten hits in a hundred at bat. Which is better? The first, of course, for baseball, but in freelance writing three sales out of ten pitches is not better than 10 sales out of 100 pitches Freelance writing is a numbers game.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
MY creative journey is not over. It’s been a gradual progression from magazine writer to book author to now screenwriter. I’m at a stage of life when I should be retired, but I feel my writing career is just getting started.. It’s exciting because i feel I’m still growing as a writer.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ronchepesiuk.com
- Instagram: None
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ron.chepesiuk/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-chepesiuk-15168210/
- Twitter: https://x.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2Fronchepesiuk
- Youtube: None
- Yelp: None
- Soundcloud: None
- Other: None
Image Credits
I have the rights and permission for the images