FROM COLOR SCHEMES TO SYNDICATION:

AN INTERVIEW WITH PATRICIA JOHNSON

For a lot of grandparents, spending time with their grandchildren is a full-time job. For most syndicated columnists, so is writing. How does a grandmother of nine and avid volunteer find time to write a nationally syndicated column? Lauren Beck talked with columnist Patricia Johnson to find out.      

LB: As a research and development specialist and the recipient of numerous service awards, it seems that you devote a significant amount of time to working with disabled people. Yet, you've published over 600 articles on a wide range of subjects. How do you find time to write?

 

PJ: I was a columnist for a woman's magazine and a local newspaper on interior design at the same time. After that I published a national magazine for people with disabilities, writing the accessible design column. All were within a 10-year frame. During that time I ate, drank and slept writing.

LB: On top of your volunteer work, you’re also a retired interior designer. How did your interests in design and helping the disabled lead to your work in the media?

 

PJ: I find it rewarding and important to do volunteer work. My field in volunteering was and still is, on encouraging those with disabilities to better their lifestyle to the best of their ability. I had little competition at the time on writing on subject matter pertaining to disability. Other media frowned on the subject, so I decided the only way to open the eyes of the public was to produce a national magazine. Interviewing thousands of men, women and children over those 10 years showered me with blessings and knowledge. I found most had a terrific sense of humor, courage and the determination to make life better. By speaking at rehabilitation hospitals across the country, I could bring accessible design seminars where they were needed. All this was volunteer. I took no income from the publication. I already had several years of radio and television talk shows on basic interior design, which led me into other media.

LB: Did you learn anything working in television and radio that you apply to writing?

 

PJ: The radio programs were basically helpful hints for the general public on room-by-room design. The television programs were more varied—interviewing architects and designers from all over the country. That taught me how to loosen up and interview just about anyone. By the time I needed to interview famous celebrities for my magazine, I felt that they were friends for years and it was very enjoyable.

LB: Congratulations on your syndicated column on housing and design for seniors. Were you surprised when a wire service approached you about becoming nationally syndicated? That doesn’t seem to happen very often!  

 

PJ: I still smile about that. I'm glad they got me before the possibility of getting arthritis in my fingers and [not being able to] type. For many years I thought it would be terrific to be a syndicated columnist and tried some wire services. Although my articles were all over the place, I could not interest wire services on the subject of design or accessible design. I never thought of "aging by design" ... ever, ever. After all, I'm 65 years old, grandmother of nine! Nobody told me I was a senior. There's a time for everything!

 

LB: What to you think is the key to getting syndicated?

 

PJ: If there's a key to getting syndicated, I never knew it. Although I do believe that humor is very important. As I "mature," I've relaxed more and say things the way "I" want to say them. Perhaps that's a key? I find humor in every room except bathroom design ... I haven't mastered that one yet. There's lots of humor in all other room design, especially as we mature.

LB: You must constantly generate ideas for your column. Where do they come from?

 

PJ: I keep about 30- to 40- articles written ahead, needing only to update them when needed. My stock on hand of photos is over 1,000. It's easy to generate new ideas for the columns because you "live" it.

LB: For 10 years you published a national magazine for people with disabilities. Having been on both sides of the spectrum, how do you balance writing for publishers/editors and writing for readers? Do you find that there is sometimes a disconnect between what editors want and what readers want?

 

PJ: I've taught some classes on writing. The most difficult point that some writers miss is which side of the spectrum do I write for? I have "never" sent in an article to a magazine only because I liked what I wrote! I can rewrite many magazine articles to fit the need of various publications. Noncompeting, of course. The fastest way to increase your article selling is to write for that publisher's reader. If you don't know the magazine contents and what the reader wants, you're lost.

 

Yes, there sometimes is a disconnect between what editors want and what readers want. I'm experiencing that now. I write for several senior-type publications and each is different. Some want "local" interviews leaving little room for fact. Other editors want a lesson and first-hand experience-type article. I'm relaxed enough to cater to both. Some lead me to believe their readership is slipping because an editor does not know their own reader.

LB: You’ve been published in magazines for seniors, teens and children. Is it difficult to shift your writing among audiences?

 

PJ: I can shift between them all because of having those nine wonderful grandchildren. If I'm writing for grandparenting magazines, I generally cover gardening and cooking with the kids. I'll include finding hobbies for teens and grandparents to do together. For teen publications, I love to get them to redesign their room or closet.

 

LB: Do you ever look back at some of the first articles you wrote and see how your writing has changed?

 

PJ: Sorry you asked that question. I did not destroy the articles; just put them in an album to remind me how the world, our ideas and even how we all change. I still believe some unknown source enters my office while I'm sleeping and rewrites some of these old articles. I can't believe some of them actually got published!

LB: Do you have an agent? If so, how did you go about finding him/her?

 

PJ: No, I have no agent. I would love one. I have not had the time to locate an agent. My dream of an agent is one with Erma Bombeck’s [sense of humor] and the rest will follow.

LB: What projects are you working on in 2005?

 

PJ: Since the syndication just began, I'll be pretty busy with that. Although I am working on another book on accessible design for those with disabilities, I have started my first novel, a murder mystery. As of now, I haven't decided who to murder or why or why I even started the book to begin with.

Lauren Beck is assistant editor of the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop newsletter.