<p>I've heard that writing for the Harvard Lampoon can be a great way to launch one's writing career. Is the same true for the Yale Record? If I got into Yale, I would love to write for the Record. Comedic writing is a passion of mine. Like most of you who have read my posts know, post-grad, I want to be a professional screenwriter, television show runner, and film director. So, is the Yale Record a feeder for writing careers in the same way the Harvard Lampoon is?</p>
<p>Also, how does one get to be a writer for the Record? Can anyone sign-up or do you have to go through a tough selection process like for the Lampoon? Any info would be much appreciated. :)</p>
<p>Is the Yale Record a feeder for writing careers in the same way the Harvard Lampoon is? Not in my generation, that’s for sure. As far as I know, the Record didn’t exist at all in the '70s and '80s, during which time Harvard Lampoonies were taking over the world. If you look at the Wikipedia entry, the list of famous alumni is not so impressive, especially since many of them are famous for something other than writing, or did their writing in the 19th Century. Firesign Theater is cool, and so is Garry Trudeau (but Doonesbury appeared in the YDN, not the Record). They don’t stack up so well against the Lampoon alums, no matter which century you look at. The Lampoon network is second to none in Hollywood.</p>
<p>The Harvard Lampoon is well known. That said, I just looked at it, and it doesn’t seem so impressive… published only 5 times a year and their actual publication doesn’t blow me away in terms of content or layout.</p>
<p>The Lampoon is probably > Yale Record, the YDN is probably > than the Crimson. However, the Rumpus (a comedy paper) is probably better read than the Record, so you could go there too. Either way, Yale has MANY high quality publications, some comedy, most not. And if you want to launch a writing career, the Yale English department, YDN, etc are pretty darn unbelievable.</p>
<p>The Rumpus is ridiculously trashy and screams of trying to be funny, rather than genuinely being funny. Neither of those are essential components of a quality paper or enjoyable reading experience, and to be honest, it seems the Rumpus is kind of looked down by people here.</p>
<p>Regarding actual writing careers, I don’t think the barriers to entry are so great you need to write for a prestigious publication in college in order to get anywhere meaningful in your life or career endeavors.</p>
<p>For some writing careers, there are significant barriers to entry. Getting a foot in the door in TV writing – an industry that historically has employed a lot of writers – is very difficult, and is very much a matter of networking and contacts in addition to writing ability. The Lampoon is not the only pipeline to Hollywood, but it has been a very, very good one in the last generation. “Important” national and quasi-national newspapers (assuming that industry still exists) are pretty Ivied-up places, and tend to have lots of Yale Daily News and Harvard Crimson alumni. A number of YDN people in my generation have had really good careers in journalism, and they tended to hit a high level much faster even than people coming out of the excellent journalism programs at Northwestern or Syracuse. The situation is similar at many national magazines (Time, Inc. and Conde Nast publications especially, and The Atlantic), prestige literary publishing houses, influential journals (like New York Review of Books, Foreign Affairs, or hipper ones like onlin n+1), and TV network news departments.</p>
<p>Hmmm, would have thought careers emphasizing tangible skills weren’t as dependent on pedigree as something subjective like consulting or investment banking.</p>
<p>Is the Yale Record a respected publication on campus? Also, how does one get to be a writer for the Record? Can anyone sign-up or do you have to go through a tough selection process like for the Lampoon?</p>
<p>i’ve read some of the record and the lampoon. record seemed way better. i found the lampoon to be more “family guy/simpsons” type humor [not surprising that so many simpsons writers came from the lampoon. record seemed to have a more sophisticated sense of humor.</p>
<p>writing for the record is pretty self selecting. i don’t know of anyone being turned away. to be a staff writer, you have to get three pieces published and then keep writing. </p>
<p>it’s not a huge time commitment for most people, so i can’t say how much it affects their later writing careers, but i know that the editor in chief ordinarily finds him or her (sadly mostly him) self fielding job offers from the onion, etc. - last year’s EIC turned down such an offer because he was sick of humor writing, i believe.</p>
<p>the record is pretty much either respected or not read. i don’t know of anybody who doesn’t think it’s pretty good, but i know of a ton who don’t read it at all.</p>