Message from the President
BOXED OUT
I started my career as a sportswriter. Once a week, I was the featured columnist on the sports page. My editor called my column "Kasie at the Bat."
In the column, I was allowed to comment on sports world happenings. Twenty-two years ago, I wrote about Dale Earnhardt's death at Daytona. I remember it vividly. The word coming through headsets and scanners and whispers and wails sewed us together in a tapestry of sponsored grief: Interstate Batteries and Budweiser and Napa Auto Parts. We stood in elongated shadows and wept.
Being a sportswriter felt easier than writing fiction. It also felt more fun.
I'm in the middle of my career, so I'm pretty busy. And there's a lot of paid stuff to do and just as much obligatory stuff to do. I try to prioritize the fun stuff. I'm not exactly sure when writing stories stopped being the fun stuff.
I've attended six chapter meetings in a row with no new pages. I've even rewritten this message six different times with six different topics:
- Being "above the fold" and getting your stories read.
- Competing for eyeballs and writing "newsworthy" stories.
- Finding your way out of writer's block with self-imposed deadlines.
- Being the reason people buy the newspaper (or attend the conference) and building a following.
- Effectuation and starting from a means-based approach (what do I have that I can use?).
And this topic, which seems to be part confession, part cry for help. Maybe I need to stop attending critique groups and go back into my writing cave and write. Maybe I need a better hero, a Dale Earnhardt. Maybe I need to make time to write. Again. Prompts could help. Maybe some writing exercises. Send your home remedies to kasie@clemsonroad.com.
Don't fall victim to below-the-scroll fatigue. This issue of The Quill has LOTS to offer. Keep reading.
Kasie Whitener
President, SCWA Board of Directors
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