Writing with impact vs. Writing for deadline/daily

I have found when I get in a rut is to do two things.

1. Remove myself from cynicism of colleagues (ya'll know what I mean)

2. Pay attention

Really. I was in a rut during football season until I did just did that and was thrilled how it turned out. It takes a little more effort, but pay attention to little things and see if you can write it different and better.

Deadline sucks. I think its crushing when you send in a story and the editor asks before reading it in a raspy voice: "You writing though for second?"

Also, stop reading sports. I echo the sentiments of reading other things. You have to find some outlet that stimulates your brain.

A rut to me is lack of excitement and passion for your work.

 

I just want to say that topics like this one are part of the reason I registered here.

My problems were similar, not that I etched my own groove, but in that they were somewhat forced upon me. I'm not hacking away at a daily, but freelance often enough since they nixed the AP wire a year ago. The requirements were simple: tight graphs, write facts, meet deadline.

It was so simple that I quickly became disenchanted when my efforts to breathe life into a piece were nixed for more straight-ahead writing. It's not like I was taking the scenic route to my points; I only wanted my by line to mean something. For better or worse, I'm a good mimic of styles, so I eventually took those edits and made sure everything I filed was in that same format. It helped me get a few more assignments, but killed the spirit in stories I worked on for magazines.

My mojo came back once I decided to focus my efforts on more creative magazine pieces. It helped when the baseball and football seasons ended for the local teams (SE is an NBA authority, so he handles hoops), too.

I imagine free time is your rarest of luxuries, but exhaust it writing when you find it. I'd like to recommend reading like many did here, but if we're being honest, I don't do too much reading myself. I struggle to find compelling or inspiring words. There are the usual suspects, of course, but their popularity can be more depressing if you're competitive by nature.

And this.

 

I read constantly, and almost never anything sports-related, so perhaps we're coming at this from different angles, and maybe I don't know much of anything at all, but writing in my scant spare time does not come easy. I get the itch, sometimes so much so that it burns. Grabbing hold of the impetus is much, much harder. Funny how that works. I went so far as to copy down a long list from New Yorker's featured young novelists of "what makes a good book." I have yet to do anything with it.

What I hope to God hasn't happened is that a sports-induced malaise has carried over to my "free time" writing, that is to say, my fiction and non-fiction pieces I write apart from the office. Or those I would like to write. It has already come into play in my sports writing. I felt like I was once on some sort of positive track, building on my writing with new avenues into stories.

As an aside: See that avenue bit I just put in there? I won't cut it out because it's illustrative. I've used that metaphor literally dozens of times in print. I hate that I do that, but it's easy, you know? A few years ago, I don't know that I make that distinction. I just spend a minute or two ruminating on a new battle plan on the story, and I go in a totally new direction. I don't do that as much anymore.

Such is my confusion on the matter that I might still be on a positive track, but it sure as hell doesn't feel like it. Maybe plateauing isn't the right term, but I feel as though I'm on a shelf right now, and the latticework to the higher rungs is not available. I don't know that there are any easy answers. There probably are not. I think writing more outside the office is right. What's hardest is not wiping it off the page moments after I put it there because I don't think it's good enough. I do confess that I'm probably more literary-inclined than your average sports scribe, so perhaps that is a part of the issue. But I believe every writer aims beyond his station. I cannot do otherwise.

Is there any writer's trait harder to overcome than that of an unrealistic perfectionist? It's miserable.

 

We definitely are coming from different angles, but still arriving to the same place. I don't read enough, but that's because I'm arrogant and really enjoy a Call of Duty marathon. In other words, we both make excuses. Maybe my fiancee is right and I let my mind wander too much about what other people are doing before taking action for myself. Maybe you're doing the same with your guide to making a good book.

Let's get psychological some. How long have you felt this way? Maybe it's your wording, but I'm getting the feeling that this has lasted for a considerable amount of time. We all get into our ruts and feel like hacks and think we suck and wonder if the people paying us regret every check they sign. Such is insecurity. A good piece of hate e-mail sometimes helps.

Either way, hope you snap out of it. We all do to some extent. Best thing I can always suggest is to have fun. Write a faux-movie review intellectualizing an Adam Sandler flick the same way pompous movie critics praise Oscar contenders.

 

Find a good editor who's going to read everything you write and everything the competition (if you have any) is going to write. This should be someone with good to great skills and who is going to give you honest opinions. Almost always one of these types is on every desk. Doesn't even have to be a sports guy, just someone who will coach you informally.

 

This is very true. It is a large part of what separates beat writers from columnists or those who write for magazines or other forms.

I often cover games that end relatively late, have little time to do interviews and then rush back to the office and have maybe 20-25 minutes tops to write my story. There's a lot to be said about churning out readable copy in a very short period of time. Am I winning any awards for that? No, but there are other times and places for that.