Things to Love
1. A weird photo of a college freshman in a green bodysuit interrupting an evangelist named Bro at the University of Missouri, posted without explanation on page 3.
2. Efforts to have Quincy named a "Fiber City." I see definite cross-promotion possibilities with All-Bran here.
3. An enormous photo of the pollen-gorged stamens of a flowering crab. Hey, those are sexual organs, people! I thought this was a family paper.
2. Efforts to have Quincy named a "Fiber City." I see definite cross-promotion possibilities with All-Bran here.
3. An enormous photo of the pollen-gorged stamens of a flowering crab. Hey, those are sexual organs, people! I thought this was a family paper.
posted by Allthenewsthatfits at 6:24 AM
6 Comments:
WTF?
RH's story on the waiting room episode didn't excite you?
Writing a regular column ain't easy. Sometimes you have a great topic and the column writes itself, and sometimes you go to the well and the well is dry. Those are the moments when you open the lid on the laptop and just start typing. That empty space won't fill itself. Even the great columnists found themselves flying by the seat of their pants once in a while, and that column simply took that metaphor and made it literal.
That's fine, but I PAY for the QHW.
If I want mindless dribble, I can go to Facebook and read the posts for free.
ATN - Since you were in the bidness, I'm not surprised you understand about column writing.
You are correct — a column is only as good as the subject matter. I'm not going to complain about being overworked, but sometimes I wish I had more time.
Then again, I've put a lot of effort into what I thought were good columns, and nobody seemed to care.
The last three columns — waiting rooms, cats and Vegas Music ghosts, and Obama in Fort Madison — drew strong responses. I can't figure it out because I didn't think they were that great.
Such is the fickle nature of column writing.
I was a die-hard fan of the columns of Mike Royko, and I will also be the first to admit that sometimes his columns were repetitive, hobby-horseish, padded, or simply unworthy of his talent. I have never tried to write a regular column, partly because it's harder than it looks and partly because you end up putting yourself out there for public scrutiny more than you may have bargained for. Anybody who takes potshots at columnists should try writing one for a few years and see how long it takes before they run out of ideas.
That being said, the day a person writes the old "writer's block" column -- the column about not being able to come up with something to write, which miraculously ends at 850 words or 1200 or whatever the designated count is -- is the day the column should cease.
I wouldn't want to have to write a column--hard, hard work and there's always that nagging thought "What the heck do *I* have to say that anyone wants to pay to read?"
That said, RH does ok, hits more often than he misses.
BTW, RH, I'd gladly give you some of these months of enforced time off I'm having to take, but you have to have a serious illness to get it. Frankly, it's not worth it. OTOH I've lost 90 lbs since November, and in that respect *I* am kind of okay with it.
My favorite columnist was a guy with the Peoria Journal Star back in the 80s, Rick Baker. I have two of his books, and the columns often are not dated at all. RIP Rick.
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