Fresh and Not Frightening: the Joy of Writing Teamwork

When I first started freelance writing three decades ago, I thought magazine articles would be my primary focus and I’d get to work with editors on a regular basis. Since then, both magazines and my business have evolved… and for various reasons*, writing one-off pieces is more of an occasional treat than a regular gig. But I always enjoy the chance to work with an editor to develop and refine an idea, so a few months ago I was really excited to receive an email from SAIL Magazine’s Wendy Clarke; would you be interested in writing for us?

Of course my answer was YES!, and Wendy liked my initial idea: a story about the importance of teamwork for all sailors—from family cruisers to professional racers—that might help readers improve the teamwork on their own boats. I reached out to Karen Fallon (who lives on a boat year round, with her husband and two kids); Shirley Robertson and Dee Caffari (two pro sailors who teamed up last summer to spend 13 days racing around Britain and Ireland); and Jack and Zdenka Griswold (retirees who completed a five year circumnavigation). Though their experiences were all quite different, I did dig out some commonalities—and then Wendy helped polish it into a piece that will hopefully educate as well as inspire.

This was my first article for SAIL, and I really enjoyed the challenge of pulling together a story for an audience that includes cruising sailors. Wendy graciously provided a PDF to share with all of you, but I encourage you to subscribe so you can see all the other great content in each month’s edition. Even on screen, the spreads recreate the excitement of a “traditional” sailing magazine; a feast for both eyes and mind. 

Got another story idea you think I should pursue at the cruising end of the sailing spectrum? Share it in the comments below, or send me an email. After all, life works best when it’s a team effort.

Read Go Team!

Visit the SAIL website

*In Time Capsule: A Letter from 1995, I explained that my first professional goal was writing for magazines… but “what I quickly realized was that it was very hard to justify the time and effort put into one-off pieces. The key to making a living as a writer was syndication, which really only worked in a bigger industry—and wasn’t my cup of tea at all.”

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