We are each born with two arms but more often than not in life we somehow think in our heads that we have four arms, or sometimes more. For me I realized this early on when I started writing back when I was 13. While the game has changed -- I searched Google for something along the lines of a free writing opportunity.
Bleacher Report.com was the result of the search.
Back then all you needed to be a "writer" for Bleacher Report was internet access and an email. Literally. But hey, it worked well for me. When I say well I mean it gave me a start. By no means was my work well done.
But the ability to publish work there led me to work under Andy Benoit at NFLTouchdown.com. Benoit now works for Sports Illustrated and the New York Times. That tutelage, along with the opportunity to interview professional athletes for the first time really gave me that true start.
Before this turns into a biography I'll steer it back to my main point: Take the opportunities presented to you, reach out to writers in your area that you admire and read on a regular basis. As for pointers.
I was able to get a handful of job shadows with local media in Seattle including Danny O'Neil and Josh Meyers of the Seattle Times, Paul Silvy of KING5 TV and others. Those one day interactions alone gave me an opportunity to understand what I was getting into.
My conversation with Meyers at his desk was most memorable simply because it was just a conversation between an established writer and one who was still working his way up.
"Clearly you aren't in it for the money," Meyers told me with a laugh.
Journalism, really in any form, isn't about the money. If you have a knack for writing and really enjoy the aspect of being the person relaying news between the athlete and the fan then journalism is for you.
I reached my hand out one arm at a time. First to Danny O'Neil, then to Paul Silvy and then to Josh Meyers. I reached my hand out to the University of Washington when I was 17 and asked to be credentialed for one game as a part of my senior project.
Washington blanketed Colorado, I actually met Dave "Softy" Mahler for the first time in the press box after calling into KJR for several years as a fan. Steve Kelley surprisingly remembered me after meeting him on my first job shadow with O'Neil at the Times.
A month later I extended my hand again, this time asking a lot more and was graciously granted a credential by the Seattle Seahawks organization for my senior project. Sitting third row, which wasn't bad because you can actually see more of the field, was an incredible experience.
I wasn't allowed to ask any questions post game but just seeing how a press conference is handled at the NFL level as compared to the college level was interesting. For UW I waited until after the press conference to ask Steve Sarkisian two questions.
Both experiences just added to the pile of work I had accrued over the past four years. Now each had extended was a risk but it was one I needed to take. The biggest hand extension was for RealDawg.com, asking if the site needed any assistance covering spring practice.
Now it wasn't the typical site. Even though it was and still is credentialed there wasn't an on-the-scene beat writer like the Times or other sites had. So there was an opening. But even as an unpaid intern I would have taken the opportunity.
I parlayed the experience of press conference interviews and my previous experience into covering spring practice and eventually became the full time beat writer. The last three seasons I've covered almost every Washington home football game.
But it's all about extending the hand. It's not extending a hand like a 12-year-old at a Justin Bieber concert. It's being respectful and not blitzing every single media member in your local area.
If you're a high school student and you like the idea of being a writer as a career then take the opportunities given to you. Work on your school newspaper staff, something I didn't but probably should have done. Depending on what you're writing about send maybe one or two clips to a local writer who shares the same topics and get their feedback.
Life is all about connections. Some is still based on merit, but a lot is based on connections and developing relationships. Each person you know is a resource. You can return to them for advice if the relationship is correctly built. Where you should consider going to school, possible internships, anything that is within reason.
But it takes extending your hand to make it possible.
