So he’s not the creator of YouTube, or an Internet major leaguer by any means, but University of Wisconsin graduate Jon Kjarsgaard has gained local prowess as the founder of Jonk Music Blog, a site dedicated to promoting local artists through interviews, concert and album reviews, as well as features.
And it may be a chance coincidence or a harbinger of huge things to come, but it just so happens that Jonk Music and YouTube share the same February 14, 2005 birthday.
“Mine has so far has been less lucrative financially,” he jokingly remarked to a small panel of students at the Memorial Union on Monday, April 27, for the inaugural evening of Lit Fest 2015, a WUD Publications weeklong event.
As part of the Lit Fest celebration, this workshop’s purpose was to relay some of the hard-learned lessons of the music writing craft to interested students. Kjaarsgard offered attendees a comprehensive list of “seven key things” to keep in mind for music writing success:
- Be thoughtful in everything you write
- Edit, and learn to take edits
- Hit your deadlines
- Do your research
- Ask the right questions in interviews
- Keep the business side of things in mind
- Remember the importance of community
Kjarsgaard especially drove his second point home throughout the hour-long presentation.
“You can’t be married to every word you write,” he said. “A fresh set of eyes doesn’t hurt.”
Editing is a vital component of the writing process, and a second (or third, or tenth) opinion will greatly service the quality of an article, he said.
Currently the music/entertainment editor at Isthmus, a weekly alternative publication in Madison, Kjarsgaard is going through the tedious process of optimizing the Isthmus. He dolefully admits to neglecting his website these days due to the paper’s stringent demands, but his blog was a vital stepping stone toward his current success in music writing.
The night was an intimate and rewarding presentation — and a fruitful start to the week of speakers covering different topics in contemporary writing.
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