'Natural-Born Bullshitter'

Alan Smith, British novelist, playwright, journalist, and professor, spoke to Dr. Terry Clark’s Blogging for Journalists class October 30.  Smith is currently a guest speaker for the University of Central Oklahoma’s Passport to England program.

Smith is a senior lecturer in creative writing at The University of Northampton, and has taught philosophy and English at Her Majesty’s Prison Wellingborough since 1999. Smith has published over 70 articles in The Guardian since 2001 about his experiences in the prison. He has published two novels through Headline Review publishing house: Big Soft Lads (1997) and What About Me? (1998).

Not only is Smith an elegant writer, but he is also a wonderful storyteller. Instead of writing an even longer biography of the Brit, I thought I would pull some great quotes from our session with him:

"If (newspapers) are not paying you for it with money, they don't value it! They will exploit you rotten!"

On attempting to publish his first novel: "Agents asked me 'who are you? and why would people want to read you?' You don't take no; you go on and on and on."

“I don’t really believe in democracy. Lenin said freedom, well, I think that freedom is so precious that it ought to be rationed.”

“The problem about the blogosphere is a bit like being a tree in a forest. There is no editorial process: it’s like open house. For big newspapers, you have to be able to construct a sentence, you have to write a paragraph, and you have to be able to spell. If you can’t do these things you will not get past the door. In the blogosphere, it doesn’t matter. If you cannot properly use an apostrophe, you are too stupid to have a degree from this university. You are writers living in the world not as you want it to be, but as it is.”

Clark: “You have to explain technology to them.” Smith: “You make me feel like Fred Flinstone.”

Clark: “Story of my life.”

Clark: “What do you think the future of journalism is?”
Smith: “Oh this machinery stuff! … Once we have used all our natural resources, perhaps in 100 years, we’ll be back to newspapers. (As for now), I’ve attended parties, I’ve even gotten drunk with the editor, but I have never stepped foot in the office (of The Guardian). I write my copy, squirt it down the line, they put in the paper, and they put the money in my bank.”

On Fifty Shades of Grey: “All they (big publishing houses) want is something for them (people) to read on the beach while they get melanoma!"

Clark: "How did you learn to be such a storyteller?" 

Smith: "Just a natural born bullshitter!"

boom bang crash

As you can tell, I haven't been on much lately. But, I feel like it's for justified reasons.. 

First, I got sicker than a dog. Upper respiratory flu, laid up in bed for three days. Yuck.

Dave and Dr. Clark posing for a picture in 2011.

I finally started felling better as the week started, but I ended up missing my first class Tuesday (Blogging with Dr. Clark). And of course, the day I miss is the day that Dave Rhea came to speak to our class.

Dave has held the position of managing editor for online products The Journal Record Publishing Company (a division of The Dolan Company) in Oklahoma City for the past three years. From August 2004 to November 2008, Dave was the Interactive Editor for the Ocala Star-Banner Newspaper, a division of The New York Times Company out of Ocala, Florida.

 

Interestingly enough, Dave's first career wasn't in the news business. From 2000 to 2004, Dave was part of the post-grunge rock band, Dust For Life. For most of 2001, they toured all over North America with 3 Doors Down, Creed, The Cult, and Saliva. To the right is the music video for "Step Into The Light," the band's first single released in 2001.

On his personal website, Dave says that he is "a musician, a writer, a videographer – those are what I am most creatively passionate about, in all those cases I am acting as a story teller." I think that is an amazing way to look at how writing is important in any career and creates meaning in life.

 

Second reason I have been away:

I was in a wreck in my brand new 2012 Mazda2, ironically on the same day I started feeling better. A lady cut me off and I didn't have time to stop before I hit her. I had to get a tow to the shop, and the rest of my day was pretty much filled with phone calls to work, the body shop, doctor, and mostly insurance companies.


Sigh. Wrecks always happen at the worst times. Oh well. No one was hurt, just a little banged up. Now to proceed through the next few weeks dealing with insurance companies. Hooray!

Anyway, I am trying to get back into the swing of things. So be looking for more updates!

funkadelic man

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Dr. Kurt Hochenauer, an English professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, spoke to Dr. Terry Clark’s class, Blogging for Journalists, last Thursday. Hochenauer is the creator/author of the political blog Okie Funk: Notes from the Outback and creator/operator of the liberal open blog Blue Oklahoma.

He began Okie Funk in 2004 because of “a deep need for liberal political commentary in Oklahoma.” His blog has had over one million hits and over 1000 posts. However, Hochenauer will not accept advertising of any kind. He believes in more of “a separation of opinions and journalism.”

His typical audience is made of Oklahomans and people who previously lived in Oklahoma. He has positions at the Kansas City Star, The Oklahoman, Tulsa Tribute, and UCO (for 21 years). His political credentials are mainly based on experience as a journalist for 30+ years in the political spectrum of Oklahoma.

Hochenauer admits that it is difficult to find new material. “I mean, how many times can you write about the same thing over and over? This is a problem in the blog world.”

Hochenauer has some great advice for novice bloggers. His first tip is the most important: be a good writer. He also notes, that to become a good writer, one must practice the craft. Even though it seems inconvenient, I try to practice as much as possible. Practice, practice, practice. Write about anything, anywhere, all the time! Write about everything, everywhere, every day! The more you write, the more comfortable you will be in doing so. Plain and simple.

Hochenauer admits that the blogging world has become an increasingly tough market to work your way into. However, he suggests finding a your niche in something people would actually be interested in reading.

Last but not least, read other blogs! See what is going on in the world (the blogging world or otherwise). Hochenauer says he subscribes to liberal and democratic blogs, but also regularly reads right-wing, conservative blogs to “see what’s going on on the other side.”

Overall, it was great to hear from a real successful blogger in the flesh. It was nice to listen to Hochenauer tell his story about seeing a need for something in his community, and actually doing something about it. The world, the blogosphere in particular, needs more people like him!