If you are an aspiring writer and are real serious about making this your future, please share with us the tales of your endeavors. For me, I have recently changed my major to Broadcast Journalism and am pursuing a sports writing career. I am positive that this is what I want to do in my life, but I don't have the first clue on how to get there.
This thread could be used to give others ideas on how to pursue this career and to see all angles that need to be approached and at which direction.
I plan to get in contact with many sports writers via email. I want to ask them where they went to school and what degree they earned. Then I will ask them about the politics involved and how hard it was for them to land their first job. I will be sure to post all emails received from these guys so we all can gain an idea on how the best went about their business.
Hopefully this thread can help many of us figure some things out without having to do it all on our own.
In the meantime, please post your thoughts and where you are at with this and possibly how you got there. Lets all help eachother out in making our future and easier process.
Ideas so far:
Improve your writing skills:
1. Get an accredited degree in communications or journalism.
redsrbetter- completed many college courses toward communications degree. Enrolling at community college for journalism degree.
2. Post amazing quality on sites like this and see how people react.
3. Take Creative Writing courses and English to better your skills.
redsrbetter-completed ENG 105 and ENG 106 at Park University
Writing.Com: Writers, Writing, Poetry, Creative Writing, Fiction Writing, Poetry Contests, Writing Contests
Reed College Creative Writing: Submission Info
Gain references through:
1. Get involved in the school newspaper/radio station.
redsrbetter- checking on base newspaper for openings
2. Intern at a radio station (go to their websites and hunt job openings)
3. Build a respectable online resume (blog, articles) and get a following
redsrbetter- S3F, another Reds site, myspace, personal blog, uwritesports, espn boards, mlb boards, zoints.
4. Build sports writer contacts through emails.
redsrbetter- Nicole DeCambra, attempting Hal McCoy and others.
5. Write for an online fan site and try to get a job as a beat writer
6. Post a blog on sites like myspace and only add sports people on to your friends list.
redsrbetter- myspace site is built and awaiting first article, then will build contacts
7. Save all your writing to a disk and make a portfolio
8. Build a resume utilizing many of these steps.