Max F.: Writer, Movie Lover, Comic Book Reader, Vinyl Listener, Cool Dude
Max is a cool and cultured guy. He has an easygoing personality with a large dose of humility, giving off a collected calm. This along with his passion for writing, comic books, movies, and music, makes conversation with him interesting, and more importantly, entertaining. He has an excellent and varied taste in movies. Some of his favorites include Richard Linklater’s The Before Trilogy, Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumblefish, and the early Rocky films. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and In a Lonely Place were also discussed at length. His broad likability is integral to being a good writer. Above all else, a writer must know his audience and Max understands his. It is why he wants to write for a living, and why he ended up at his current job as a media blogger for Welcome 716. Now, with an audience at hand, and an eagerness to please them, he is ready to get his career going and start writing!
Max has a cerebral dysplasia diagnosis, which is described as a milder case of cerebral palsy. The dysplasia affects his legs, making walking and climbing stairs a challenge. “I do what everyone else does, just two steps behind,” says Max. In order to mitigate his challenges, Max uses a cane, relies on handrails to manage steps, and leaves himself more time to get from place to place. Living with this struggle has taught Max how to adapt quickly.
Max attended Buffalo State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree for Independent Studies in Film and Writing. During his senior year, Max interned with Buffalo Spree magazine. He thoroughly enjoyed his time working there and thought that it might be the kind of place where he would like to work in the future. He thought that making a living as a writer would make a good career, too.
After graduating college, and dabbling in the part time job market, Max was having a hard time finding the right job—any job at all for that matter. (While he looked, he helped out at his mother’s clothing store.) He began looking around for assistance and found it with ACCES-VR and Innovative Placements. Max was thrilled to have some help!
Max and Andrea began by crafting a resume that better highlighted his skills and interests. It also presented an opportunity to showcase his completed, and in some cases, published work. These included publications in the Buffalo News and Buffalo Spree magazine on a variety of subjects. The new resume added an opening paragraph that made sure employers were aware of his ability to generate clean concise copy, as well as his skills as a proofreader and editor. In addition, the resume pointed out his passion for film, comics, music, and books. When employers saw this, they were granted a well-rounded and impressive look at what Max could bring to their businesses.
Along with the resume, Max and Andrea gathered personal and professional references and Andrea provided him with a letter of her own. Andrea also reminded Max to set up a professional voicemail. This packet of information was released by mass distribution to hundreds of local employers. It was a roaring success! Max received calls for several positions in the fields of customer service and writing and publishing. “Andrea was so good at navigating the digital space of the job market that I found completely overwhelming She had skin in the game and wanted you to succeed.” He interviewed for a few of the interested parties. Andrea would give him helpful tips to be successful before and following the interviews. Max ended up accepting two jobs. He entered the hospitality business as the host at 100 Acres restaurant located at Hotel Henry. (That job has since ended due to COVID.) The second, and more appealing of the two to Max, was a blog writer position for the local centric Welcome 716.
At Welcome 716, Max writes anywhere from 4-6 articles a month to be posted on the blog. The best part is Max has the freedom to pick his own topics. At the beginning of each week, Max pitches a few different ideas to his boss who “okays” the one he likes best. Then Max researches or experiences the topic he is writing about. Then, he writes a 1000-word piece. He edits it, and submits it to his boss for review, before it is posted to the blog. He recently wrote a post titled, “Valentine’s Movies Worth Staying in For,” and a review of the new film Judas and the Black Messiah, is forthcoming. He is particularly proud of a triptych of posts he did on fitness, which included articles on nutrition, physical fitness, and a personal anecdote from his own life. Looking ahead, Max is planning articles on The Conjure Man Dies by Rudolph Fisher, which is billed as the first detective story written by an African American man; as well as profiles on the trio of biographies he is reading about comic book creators: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Wally Wood. “I’m glad that I’ve found a place to be creative and have the chance for people to see my work! It’s nice having an audience,” Max says with excitement. He is also looking to write for other clients.
The coronavirus made 2020 a challenging year for Max, yet he used his time productively and developed several coping strategies. “It really is a double-edged sword; you don’t want to waste a day, so you try to keep busy, yet you have become acutely aware of time. It is maddening. Having to pick and choose what do to constantly becomes nauseating after a while!” There are only so many movies and books to be read before ennui settles over a person. “After a while, you want to get out and share the things you have just absorbed—to meet someone at a coffee shop to talk again.” That need to express himself is one of the reasons that drives Max to write. He is eager to connect with other people again.
Structure and variety are key tenets in Max’s writing, as well as his approach to life. Structure gives form, order and meaning to chaos, and variety keeps that order from becoming restrictive, bland, and uninteresting. Just like Wally Wood’s 22 Rules for Keeping Comic Panels Interesting, which kept storytelling growing and evolving, Max utilizes this same approach to thinking, learning, writing and ultimately, sharing what he knows. It is an approach shared by Andrea Todaro. She gave Max a structure to follow, to share her contacts and put him in touch with employers. She also helped equip him with the skills he needed to approach different situations and circumstances—to be open to variety. That’s why Max would recommend Innovative Placements to others. “Without Andrea, I never would have been in the situation I needed to be in order to succeed. She gets you out there!”
By Martin Kilroy, Writer, Innovative Placements