Finding the Right Editor for New York Times Letter of Recommendation

I’m going to write for the New York Times — Chapter 3

This is an ongoing column about my quest to write for the New York Times. If you’d like to know the background behind why I’m doing this, check out the first installment of the series.

Photo by Sarah Shull on Unsplash

Thankfully, my anxiety decided to take a break this week. Instead of freaking out over every word and acting I was crafting The Grapes of Wrath when I was really writing about a British TV show, I started my pitch with ease.

Picking My Pitch — Letter of Recommendation

This week, I aimed for the Letter of Recommendation column. In the column, people recommend odd things that bring them comfort, joy, or understanding. From Arby’s to Semicolons, writers reveal how these strange fixations help them find a place in the world.

Though I wasn’t filled with dread, this pitch still took awhile. Last week, I’d already thought of my idea, I just had to consolidate my thoughts. This week, I had to figure out what to recommend.

I settled on the movie version of Cats and wrote for a bit. Unfortunately, it kept coming out like a snarky takedown of a movie everyone already hates. Plus, Letter of Recommendation doesn’t really seem the place for pure…