Oh When The Saints.

[rickylambert]

Hi Guys

 

Recently I set up a small blog about the almighty saints, Im 15 years old and aspire heavily to become a journalist in football.

I'd really appreciate if you guys gave it a read and even a follow so It makes me feel like I'm writing to someone.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

[Saint Garrett]

Is there a link somewhere ?

[hypochondriac]

I didn't realise people still used AIM.

[rickylambert]

Sorry http://www.ohwhenthesaints.org

[Jonnyboy]

You don't like look 15 Rickie, more like 31. Arf.

[Saintandy666]

Very nice. A blog is a good way to hone your writing ability. Keep it up.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

Yep keep it up you never know what lies in the future

[Lets B Avenue]

Sorry http://www.ohwhenthesaints.org

 

You had better delete the last paragraph before the Forums "Hard Man and Style Guru" sees it.

[notnowcato]

Good effort. Grammar could do with some fine tuning though

[Doctoroncall]

The guardian are doing sports journalism seminars last time I looked (a few weeks ago)... Maybe of interest.

[rickylambert]

Did anyone follow it?

[tpbury]

Good work chum. I think writing is like singing, 'finding your own voice or style'. Bloke who does League1minus10 has an excellent, consistent 'voice'. For a blog, add a bit of how you feel, a bit of how the atmosphere was like, a few random observations, some humour. But the structure and length of the blog is great - keep it up and let us know more match reports!

[Wiggles31]

Nice work, keep it up!

[Graffito]

Ricklambert. Thanks for the link. I read you're match report which I think is good. Have you considered writing for other blogs, fanzines, websites? Writing to as wide an audience as possible should encourage more feedback to help sharpen your writing skills. Think about writing different kinds of articles than the standard match report. For instance what special angle or insights do you have as a Saints fan writing for other Saints fans or for the general reader?

[Hatch]

Good luck.

 

and well done for being brave enough to put your work on a public football forum , where the chance of ridicule, whether warranted or not, is quite high.

[John Boy Saint]

If you haven't already it might be worth writing to the club, explain what you are wanting to do and see if you can get into the press box to learn a few bits. Might even be worth badgering some sports editors to try and get go along with a reporter for some on the job experience at St Mary's.

Good Luck.

[Colinjb]

If you haven't already it might be worth writing to the club, explain what you are wanting to do and see if you can get into the press box to learn a few bits. Might even be worth badgering some sports editors to try and get go along with a reporter for some on the job experience at St Mary's.

Good Luck.

 

Yes, this has helped to put a friend of mine into a very good position going forward. If you are determined enough you will be able to succeed Just never be afraid to ask the right questions, you don't ask you don't get.

[rickylambert]

Thanks for all the support guys I really appreciate it!

[Crab Lungs]

Good luck bud, good stuff!

[The9]

It's alright, an interesting enough flow, and certainly promising enough if you're only 15.

 

Word of caution though, there are a few errors, and one of the few places people still expect good spelling and stuff like the use of the right "there/they're/their" is in the media, so a bit of work required there. Also, getting the conventional spellings of player names (like Rickie) right on a regular basis is going to be important too.

 

Good luck though, take every opportunity you get.

[Miltonroader07]

Hi Guys

 

Recently I set up a small blog about the almighty saints, Im 15 years old and aspire heavily to become a journalist in football.

I'd really appreciate if you guys gave it a read and even a follow so It makes me feel like I'm writing to someone.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

 

As a Journalist it needs to be factual ; remove the emotion; I enjoyed reading it and if it was for a Fanzine it would be 10/10 but for a newspaper it needs to be more neutral. Just my thoughts mate..

[JustinR]

Hope it goes well mate, good read

[CB Fry]

As a Journalist it needs to be factual ; remove the emotion; I enjoyed reading it and if it was for a Fanzine it would be 10/10 but for a newspaper it needs to be more neutral. Just my thoughts mate..

 

No one is going to go on an unofficiall blog site to read a neutral, factual report though. No point. The BBC or a newspaper site can do that.

 

I think it read pretty well, well done, but as someone else said you need to find a voice that will give people a reason to read you.

 

If you're fifteen this must be as good as it gets to be a Saints fan in your supporting lifetime. Find a way to bring that enthusiasm and excitement through to what you write.

 

If you are going to games with mates, what happens? What a great age to be going, home and away.

 

Even if you're not going, what happens? I spent a lot of my youth waiting for some "goal music" on Radio Solent (ask your dad). Or looking at the TVs in the window of Radio Rentals (er, ask your dad again) next door to the fruit and veg shop I worked at on Saturday afternoons. That's how I got Saints as a kid. What about you?

 

Think about how you talk about football with your mates and get that out in your reports. Don't be hemmed in by the generics of the rudimentary match report.

 

And if you wouldn't say it out loud, don't write it. (The opposite isn't true, though: don't write down everything you say to your mates: world of pain).

 

Have you ever called Saints "the men from the coast" or did you think that might be what a journalist might write? Be you.

 

But don't worry -keep going, good luck! I'll follow you!

[whelk]

I would also say read lots of good books which so many kids won't do these days. Media is changing of course but grammar, vocab, sentence structure etc which will always be required for a journo, and this often will come by exposure to the great writers.