Can I interview you CheapyD?

I hate to be the country boy with bad grammer and bad accent be the one to buzz in but this post reminded me of being in english class where the teacher is stuck up rich lady that yells at me because i grew up in the country and i dont talk right or never have proper grammer. One thing i would have to say is at least the kid had a pair and asked him. Everyone had great comments and JSweeney has the right idea, the real world aint like school or your parents no one holds your hand and be all nice to you the tell you how it is.
 
[quote name='JSweeney'][quote name='CheapyD']Wow, so much pressure on this poor guy.
I bet he's wishing he never posted this topic and just PMed me instead.[/quote]

I know, I feel kinda sorry for him.
But he never let off the professional angle.
Had he just said that he would post it on his blog, or write up an article for his school newspaper, I'd have been really happy for him, and even offer to read it over for him.

Perhaps there was never enough time for him to answer back, but the image he was trying to portray just didn't jive well with me.
He called himself a writer, and he mention that he'd shop it around to magazines. That's a rather brash statement, and he never backed down off of it. Had he reduced his goal to a more reasonable point, I doubt he'd have gotten as vitrolic a response from myself and others as he did.[/quote]
Vitrolic isn't even a word...
I checked it on dictionary.com, vitriolic is what you meant, yes? It basically means harsh. Nonetheless, I've expanded my vocabulary!
 
[quote name='dcfox']OP if you're ever interested in doing some freelance writing check these sites out. They send out periodic emails with listings of freelance jobs. They also include tips on how to improve your writing and stories of other writers who maybe or may have been in your current situation. I subscribe to these myself.

http://www.writersweekly.com/
http://www.angelahoy.com/writing/[/quote]

Thanks for the links. Boy do you guys like grilling me. When I've got the interview done I'll go over it a lot and make sure there are no errors.
 
[quote name='JSweeney']Wow. What a bunch'a haters in here. Give the guy a little credit for at least trying to make something of himself.

That's a good point, but one's reach should not exceed thier grasp.
It's great he has such high hopes, but trying to compare yourself to a professional when your obviously not is just setting yourself up for failure.
Dragging someone else into your delusion is just unfair.


JSweeney - Instead of completely deconstructing the guy, why don't you give him something positive or constructive to feed off of.
Suggest some books to read or classes to take.

Keys for Writers.
The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. http://www.bartleby.com/141/
The Chicago Manual of Style by University of Chicago Press
The MLA Handbook


Everyone starts off shitty.
Yes, but most of them don't suffer the delusion of being on equal footing with a professional.[/quote]

I got an elements of style book I would trade for some games if anyone wants to make a deal on it.

I ain't even read any of it. The plastic is removed though

EDIT: It is the St. Martins handbook and not elements of style.

It is pretty easy to tell how much I used it.
 
[quote name='thorbahn3'][quote name='dcfox']OP if you're ever interested in doing some freelance writing check these sites out. They send out periodic emails with listings of freelance jobs. They also include tips on how to improve your writing and stories of other writers who maybe or may have been in your current situation. I subscribe to these myself.

http://www.writersweekly.com/
http://www.angelahoy.com/writing/[/quote]

Thanks for the links. Boy do you guys like grilling me. When I've got the interview done I'll go over it a lot and make sure there are no errors.[/quote]

Post it here first. With the caliber of grammar and spelling whores here, you'll have the tightest, most polished interview ever written when everyone gets done with you.
 
well I think the OP should be kind of grateful for the harshness of some of the posts. It will give him a tougher skin for when people in the real world tell him he sucks to his face and not on some message board.

But I'm sure if thorbahn3 puts some real effort into his work, something will pan out.
 
[quote name='WhipSmartBanky'][quote name='thorbahn3'][quote name='dcfox']OP if you're ever interested in doing some freelance writing check these sites out. They send out periodic emails with listings of freelance jobs. They also include tips on how to improve your writing and stories of other writers who maybe or may have been in your current situation. I subscribe to these myself.

http://www.writersweekly.com/
http://www.angelahoy.com/writing/[/quote]

Thanks for the links. Boy do you guys like grilling me. When I've got the interview done I'll go over it a lot and make sure there are no errors.[/quote]

Post it here first. With the caliber of grammar and spelling whores here, you'll have the tightest, most polished interview ever written when everyone gets done with you.[/quote]

I might do that for my next term paper... oh and Casey I have some of those books too, so if you find someone that is looking for them and you've already traded yours off... I think you know what horse to call.
 
[quote name='rocksolidaudio']man, there are some real assholes on this board, and it gets worse every day. good luck on the interview.[/quote]

Not really. This is just a light scolding compared to what the proponents of the Walmart scam got.

Now, does you just chiming in to the converstion with that rather pointless and somewhat incendiary non sequitur add you to this growing class you suggest. There's probably a pretty good case that could be made for that.
 
[quote name='thorbahn3'][quote name='dcfox']OP if you're ever interested in doing some freelance writing check these sites out. They send out periodic emails with listings of freelance jobs. They also include tips on how to improve your writing and stories of other writers who maybe or may have been in your current situation. I subscribe to these myself.

http://www.writersweekly.com/
http://www.angelahoy.com/writing/[/quote]

Thanks for the links. Boy do you guys like grilling me. When I've got the interview done I'll go over it a lot and make sure there are no errors.[/quote]

Besides a few people coming in with comments that are neither here nor there, everyone in this thread is trying to help you, despite some of the posts having a somewhat harsh tone.

Perhaps I made a poor decision by reading your blog and thinking it to be representative of your skills as a whole, as some people view blogs more as a personal messageboard (were they often eschew the use of a spell checker and are much more lax in the application of grammar rules).

The rather kitschy banners obviously rendered in crayon as if they were scrawled by young children raised a nagging question that just hung in my mind as I read through your blog... "Is some of this so naive and amateurish because he's just developing his writing skills, or is it on purpose and he's trying to be clever?".

Depending on what the true answer is (which only you yourself know),
I can offer this advice.

If it isn't, you need to work harder and hone your skills. You obviously have ambition. You need to develop your skills. Hopefully, as you polish your skillsets, you will even develop a unique voice.

If it is, you need work on writing parody and satire. Good parody and satire can either be funny or vexing, but it will usually evoke an emotional response. Not to mention that to the vast majority of readers, it will be obvious that it is a parody.
 
[quote name='Goodtone']What is a "walmart scam"?[/quote]

Returning shit you didn't buy there for story credit, usually following another store's sale. Don't do it.
 
[quote name='JSweeney'][quote name='thorbahn3'][quote name='dcfox']OP if you're ever interested in doing some freelance writing check these sites out. They send out periodic emails with listings of freelance jobs. They also include tips on how to improve your writing and stories of other writers who maybe or may have been in your current situation. I subscribe to these myself.

http://www.writersweekly.com/
http://www.angelahoy.com/writing/[/quote]

Thanks for the links. Boy do you guys like grilling me. When I've got the interview done I'll go over it a lot and make sure there are no errors.[/quote]

Besides a few people coming in with comments that are neither here nor there, everyone in this thread is trying to help you, despite some of the posts having a somewhat harsh tone.

Perhaps I made a poor decision by reading your blog and thinking it to be representative of your skills as a whole, as some people view blogs more as a personal messageboard (were they often eschew the use of a spell checker and are much more lax in the application of grammar rules).

The rather kitschy banners obviously rendered in crayon as if they were scrawled by young children raised a nagging question that just hung in my mind as I read through your blog... "Is some of this so naive and amateurish because he's just developing his writing skills, or is it on purpose and he's trying to be clever?".

Depending on what the true answer is (which only you yourself know),
I can offer this advice.

If it isn't, you need to work harder and hone your skills. You obviously have ambition. You need to develop your skills. Hopefully, as you polish your skillsets, you will even develop a unique voice.

If it is, you need work on writing parody and satire. Good parody and satire can either be funny or vexing, but it will usually evoke an emotional response. Not to mention that to the vast majority of readers, it will be obvious that it is a parody.[/quote]

I made those banners because it is something fun to do when bored and people like them.
 
I made those banners because it is something fun to do when bored and people like them.

You don't seem to understand.
Those banners are symbolic of just about all of the content I've seen of yours. Unrefined, amateurish and overall below the par for what would be expected from a artist/writer.
Does that mean you write poorly? Not necessarily.
Assuming that you are young, it's not a bad thing at all as your skills will improve through your studies, and hopefully you keep your ambition.
But it's a decently large display of hubris to think that your writing would be on par with that of someone who has taken years of study at the university level or have been in the industry for years.
Unless you are unusually skilled, a prodigy, as it were, that's not happening. (From what I've seen, that's not the case in your situation).

Proclaiming yourself a writer place certain expectations upon you.
People expect a certain proficency in grammar, a somewhat varied word choice, and more often than not a certain adherence to the commonly accepted writing styles. (This is why stylebooks exist, and why some assocations of professionals, such as the AP, will publish thier own.)

You seem to be caught up in doing this for the exact same reason..
it is something fun to do when bored and people like them

There is a major difference however. By saying you want to shop this around to magazines, you step foot into the domain of journalism.
There are rules, standards and expectations of all journalist which they are expected to obey, and to go against that is at thier own peril.
(Look at Dan Rather and CBS if you want a good example).

You open yourself to slander and libel accusations, as well as accepting on yourself expectation of a certain level of professionalism in your writing.

Your writing, from what I've seen, doesn't seem to reach that level.
It's something you need to work on, and you've been given lots of very good advice on how to do so.

Perhaps you knew of all these expectations and responsibilities that are lumped on to someone when they become a journalist, but from what I've generally seen it this thread, I don't really believe it.

There is a vast difference it the expectations and responsibilities placed on a letter writer and journalist employed or contracted by a magazine...
you can say just about whatever you want about a game company in the letters column or on the internet... try that while you're in the employ of the magazine and you could be asking for a slander or libel suit.
 
Which would be better: JSweeney interviewing Cobra Commander or Cobra Commander interviewing JSweeney?
 
Hmm...on the off chance that another interview request pops up here, we should figure out whether or not the person writes professionally much earlier in the conversation.

That said...I think that CheapyD should require the final interview to be posted here. I can't be the only one who's deathly curious...
 
[quote name='Wshakspear']CC interviewing Jsweeny[/quote]

Oh great, leave it to the comic book guy to want me to be subjected to Cobra's brainwave scanner.
 
[quote name='WhipSmartBanky']I do. Post it. Now.[/quote]

Then, they could go on to Banky... it could be turned into a weekly feature "Know your CAGs!".

BRILLIANT! We'll make Millions!
 
[quote name='JSweeney'][quote name='WhipSmartBanky']I do. Post it. Now.[/quote]

Then, they could go on to Banky... it could be turned into a weekly feature "Know your CAGs!".

BRILLIANT! We'll make Millions![/quote]

I could write THAT interview right now:

Interviewer: Will you make me an avatar?

WhipSmartBanky:
bankatarbypunqsux.jpg
 
That looks like the Lego version of Blizzard from GI Joe.

Waitaminnit...JSweeney, Cobra Commander, GI Joe...

BTW I expect someone to use that LEGO image as their avatar in the next 15 minutes. Just sayin'.
 
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