Becca Hensley - Profile and Journalist Details
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Becca Hensley
Verified
Writer, Freelance
Austin
Beats
Biography
Widely published, award winning travel and lifestyle journalist, poet and essayist, Becca Hensley finds magic in ordinary things, turns found objects to stories, lives for the connections she makes while exploring the world. Excerpts from an interview about my work. --By Becca Hensley What makes a good story? A good story is poetry. It stops you in your tracks, and awakens your curiosity. It draws you in like laughter in a bar or the smell of bread baking on a back street in Paris. It challenges you to do it justice. It makes a difference in its telling. It changes the world—just a little bit, even if it is merely about skincare or a lamp. There is always something prodigious and human in every good story. A good story won't let you stop telling it. What made you decide to become a freelancer? I have been a writer since before I could write. I had no choice. It is how I process the world. I have never really done anything else. What did you see as your big break in establishing yourself as a freelancer? As a freelancer, you think the big break is what is coming next. Today you are an amazing source regarding all things Austin as well as someone who travels to report on stories? How do you manage it all? I have voracious curiosity—and I satisfy it. I love juggling. And I have what the French call art d' vivre—I live life with gusto to the fullest. The writing is part of that. What story, in your career, are you most proud of? That is impossibly hard. The stories I love the most are the ones where I feel like I nailed it—I told the story I wanted to tell. The ones I love best are always in the first person, without overdoing it. They use poetry and metaphor. They paint a picture, which people can't stop talking about. They make my clients proud. And, when I read them later myself, I wonder:” Wow. Who wrote that?” Then, I realize: “Oh, it was me!” What interview experience stands out in your mind? (strange location, interesting set of parameters, etc): I have interviewed so many outstanding people. My favorite interviews, though, were Pink Floyd in Stockholm at the Polar Prize festival and my ongoing and multiple interviews of Picasso's former model, Angela Rosengart, now age 81, who runs an art museum in Lucerne. As someone that writes for so many publications what do you feel is happening with the role of the freelancer today? I think lots of people are using freelancers. Our biggest problem is drawing a strong line between ourselves and wannabe writers or bloggers. Everyone should write for fun, but they should not join our fray. It takes a lot of hard work to get where we are—it isn't a game or a hobby. It is our lifeblood. What's your biggest pet peeve as a writer? When you kill yourself to get a story in by deadline, only to discover the editor is on vacation for a couple of weeks. And, PR who don't do their homework and don't trust your record. What story do you wish you would have been able to cover or hope to be able to cover? I have seen the gorillas, the tigers, and a dazzle of zebras or two—but I still need to see some polar bears. Why is journalism rewarding to you? Don't tell anybody, but I would write for free. If I don't write, I might explode. I don't have a choice. When did you know you wanted to be a journalist? I never really wanted to be a journalist. But, I always wanted to be a writer. What famous historical figure do you wish you could have interviewed and why? Dian Fossey because I love gorillas, Anne Sexton to know her pain, Edith Head so she could design me a dress, Flannery O'Connor so we could talk Catholicism, Rasputin so I could decide if he was mystic or sham. As a freelancer what are your biggest challenges and biggest opportunities? The biggest challenge is that you never make enough money. The biggest opportunity is that you live like you do. What makes you tick and why do you do what you do? Abundant curiosity, a need to live life to its fullest, a penchant for art, style and color, a great love for humanity and nature, and an addiction and obsession with words, metaphor, and storytelling drive me like nothing else. Seriously what else could I do.
design, cultural travel fashion, wellness/spas culinary travel,luxury travel art, architecture beauty
I doubt if I would cover competitive dog shows, the fur industry or fly fishing.
Content
Company Info
Freelance
De Pere, Wisconsin, United States