Typing without a clue...

[User 7467]

a worthwhile read:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/opinion/07egan.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Most of the writers I know work every day, in obscurity and close to poverty, trying to say one thing well and true. Day in, day out, they labor to find their voice, to learn their trade, to understand nuance and pace. And then, facing a sea of rejections, they hear about something like Barbara Bush’s dog getting a book deal.

Writing is hard, even for the best wordsmiths. Ernest Hemingway said the most frightening thing he ever encountered was “a blank sheet of paper.” And Winston Churchill called the act of writing a book “a horrible, exhaustive struggle, like a long bout of painful illness.”

 

[mike311gd]

Funny, entertaining, thought-provoking, informative and sad. It has it all.

 

[Batman]

Good article. Makes me a little sad that I'll toil for years in this profession and be lucky if I ever see $40,000 or $50,000 a year. Meanwhile, these guys get set up for life with a self-serving piece of crap that maybe a few thousand people will read or even give a **** about.

Also reminded me of this old Steve Rushin column from SI about 10 years ago. It reads much better in print than online because of some of the tricks he's talking about, but it's still a stroke of genius.

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1016470/index.htm

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

Yeah, I remember that one. Loved it.

You're right about it reading better on paper. You'd think someone could re-create a bullet online instead of it being a question mark.

That's one of my frustrations about the Internet. Attention to detail about such things almost seems impossible, such as on some sites where the writer's contact information is always part of the final graf, as if it belongs there.

Thanks, Batman. And thanks, Michelle.

My favorite part of Egan's column: There was a time when I wanted to be like Sting, the singer, belting out, "Roxanne ..." I guess that’s why we have karaoke, for fantasy night. If only there was such a thing for failed plumbers, politicians or celebrities who think they can write.

 

[Hellboy]

Moving words. But the sad fact is we have to ask ourselves why JTP-types are getting paid to write.