Simona Rabinovich at Media Bistro, on how music writers are like groupies:
Despite the groupie’s lowly status among pretentious intellectual and hipster circles, both the groupie and the music journalist in truth share many traits, chief among them an insatiable, intoxicating fascination with musicians and the otherworldly nature of music itself. This passion inspires creativity and is therefore an essential ingredient of both trades.
Also at Media Bistro, magazine editor John Capouya talks up yoga (he has new book about it) and editing vs. writing.
I think that younger people should try both if they can because its something that you have to experience and I don’t know that you’ll know the answer until you do. I learned that I seemed to have a knack for editing. I found it very enjoyable to try to assume the voice and the mission of writers and help them along in ways that they seem to find agreeable. At its best, it’s a collaboration that benefits everyone, and there is a good deal of satisfaction to be had from the process of making things better. Earlier in my career, I found writing to be an agonizing, nerve-wracking process. I would stay up all night and rewrite endlessly and probably fruitlessly. With the editing, I got to use my intellect but it wasn’t so much of a neurotic process.