Interviews

I interviewed three people for my paper. I started with what I felt was my most important person and had a great time. I treated her to lunch and she opened up and I got to record her onto a little digital device that I could upload to my computer. It went really well and much longer than planned but I got so much information--almost two hours worth--as well as names of other key people. But I felt that I needed more variety for my piece so I did another two. One of them was a little awkward, maybe because I was less careful, but I think it was just the person not really trusting me. He didn’t want me to keep the recording after I was done with it. It must be very sensitive material that he is so concerned. The last one was great, though, as I am friends with the person and I found the discourse pleasant. In total it’s about three hours of recorded material with a few good quotes.

Failed Starts (an attempt to get into the subject)

I bike. Mountain bike, that is. Lately just at night. With friends. After work. Away from home. Every Thursday, we meet, at the Java Hut usually, in Fairfax, across from the brewery, in a large parking lot. Some of us drive there, few ride. But it’s ritual now. A coming together for pleasure, though sometimes it hurts. Weather is rarely a factor. We ride in the rain and the freezing cold. In the dark, or sunset, or full moon, we gather. Sometimes we ask ourselves, and each other, why we do this when we could just walk across the street and drink together, or stay at home where it’s warm and comfortable, and sometimes we do, but usually we make the effort to organize, prepare, and ride.
We follow a couple of rules; wait at intersections (for the last rider) and no Cliff bars. Not all riders travel at the same speed, and since our route is made up on the spot, we as a group, don’t always know which way to go, which invariably leads to someone getting lost on the mountain and cell phone reception is a little spotty in parts, so it can be difficult to reattach the lost rider. And the Cliff bar? Well, it’s a staple of the cycling community, a mix of carbs in a condensed package; the perfect food for the space-deprived cyclist. We hate that.

I’m having lunch with the president of Access 4 Bikes, Lisa Luzzi. We’re talking about the recent elections and if there’s going to be a change in policy regarding the allowance of mountain bikers on the much coveted hiking trails throughout Marin county’s beautiful landscape. Currently mountain bikes are only permitted on fire roads with a couple of exceptions, leaving a vast network of the worlds most wonderful single track trails unavailable to the recreational bicyclist.
Lisa knows this situation well as she has been mountain biking here since 1987 and after a few years of feeling what she calls “extreme discrimination” she became a member of the Bicycle Trails Council. She wondered what exactly her $20 membership fee actually got her, so she asked the president (of BTC) and was told they used to send out a newsletter but that stopped when they lost their editor. Lisa, feeling the need to contribute to the cause, offered to step in as a replacement, upping her status and beginning her role as a mountain biking advocate. Soon she became a board member and

Access 4 Bikes is a political organization and possibly the only one of it’s kind in the country.

Query Letter (first draft)

Dirt Rag Magazine
3483 Saxonburg Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15238
412.767.9910

Dear Dirt,

Resentment and hostility towards mountain bikers is a growing issue in Marin. The increasing demand for trail use by the mountain biking community has created serious opposition with hikers, equestrians, and law enforcement. These tensions have manifested both dangerous and criminal acts by both sides, including near guerilla-like warfare. The birthplace of mountain biking is suffering from a war between the status quo and the biking revolution and things are about to get ugly.

As a mountain biker I am apparently part of this problem. I have biked in Marin for twenty years and have seen an increase demand for bike-friendly trails as well as extreme opposition. I have many friends who are involved in the fight, from rogue trail builders to political committee members and am in a position to get these important perspectives written into an article for your magazine.

I can write an expository piece highlighting the issues from both sides of the argument in about 1500 words.

Thank you,

Brandon Cook
(address withheld)

Query Outline

Lead-- Illegal Mountain Biking (In Marin)

What‘s it about-- Conflict between mountain bikers and authorities (and anti-mountain-bikers)

Why this now-- Potential high-tech crackdown (infrared sensors?), Elections

Who-- Mountain-bikers, Anti-mountain-bikers, Advocacy groups, Authorities

Treatment-- Lots of interviews to show tensions

Why me-- I’m a mountain biker and I have access to others

Length-- 800-1200 words

Why I Can’t Write My Paper (excuse #1)

This is not an excuse. Trust me. I really can’t write my paper. And here’s why…
Firstly because I’m supposed to.
Secondly because I’m scared to shit.
I just fully realized this, that I was scared, this last week while I was supposed to be writing, but instead I was stalling, avoiding, evading what was to be my masterpiece of unprecedented standard. A triumphant entrance to the world of writing outside of academic requirements. I got so excited about writing that I erected a stone wall around my typewriter in order to set it apart from the rest of my failed life, and now I ’m having a difficult time getting to it. Whoops. The truth is that I’m lazy. Or unresponsive. Or bored. Or depressed, detached, apathetic, dispassionate, or stoned. Or all of it and more. The real truth is that truth is not what it seems to be. It is a word that represents a subjective reality that only you can decipher. There is no absolute truth, no clear and definable interpretation that we can all agree on. Truth and democracy are figments of the imagination that help us to fool ourselves into thinking that we can make sense out of blasphemy and disorder.

Magazine Titles (cont.)

Galvonic or Galvonique
Galvona
Ballana
Pentype
Pention
Typecast
Gravitas
Zeenalicious
Delicious

Book Review: the WAR of ART

ATTENTION!!! ATTENTION!!! All ye who search. I have found (on my teachers desk) a book, which miraculously appeared in my arms (I asked if I could borrow it), that unlocks life’s deepest secrets (seriously) and shines like the noon-day sun (not literally). The man who wrote this holly book goes by the name of Pressfield, but an avatar he is and should be called God.
But seriously, this book is so full of wisdom, it blew me away. I highly recommend it to everyone who can read English because for me it seemed the perfect distillation of all the important concepts in life--especially if you have ever thought that something was missing from your life or felt dissatisfaction. And it’s an easy read, not too wordy.

“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.”
                                                           --Steven Pressfield, “The War of Art”

example of non-fiction writing craft

More Magazine Titles

Intracut (a play on intricate)

Captitude

Addison

Comment

Beckon

Exploited

Sources, Contacts, Interview Subjects

Jerr: old-school mountain-biker

Michael Moore: convicted trail builder

Scribb: mtbr blogger

Marin County Sheriffs Dept.

Lisa at A4B

“McMonologue”

MMWD

Selected Night Riders

MCBC

Magazine Titles

Comsong

Galactic Interlude or Galactitude

Spanky

Divided Collective

Dispersed

High Concept

Illegal mountain biking and the battle for access to public lands.

Success as a Writer

To suck, or not to suck. This is a word that one of my high school  teachers specifically forbade us from using in our work. She didn’t think it was descriptive enough. Or maybe that it was slang. But I think it has moved to a status where we all know what it means and few words have the same impact, so I will use it in my definition. Success as a writer is the absence of sucking at writing. This, however, is such a subjective judgment that it does need some clarifying. And like all judgments, specific criteria are needed to establish an outcome. But I don’t want to do that, so I’ll just say that I will consider myself a successful writer if I actually complete a body (collection) of work that I can look at and determine for myself if I like it. Though, I think even if I don’t like it and I can make some money at it, I would consider it a success. It all depends on what I want to get out of if. If my goal is to make a living from writing and I don’t make enough money, then I’m a failed writer. If I want to write for personal satisfaction but I don’t satisfy myself, then I’m a failed writer. But if I have no expectations of my writing, then I’m a success (assuming I write something). So I have yet to determine what goals I have as a writer, and that is something I will establish as I write more.

Webzines

I found the webzine from the Artists’ Television Access (ATA) called Exposure. It is a very simple and plain but I find it interesting because of the content. The managing editor writes, “Most of the authors in this issue consider their respective topics as mediated through a camera lens—which helps to frame their subject both visually and conceptually.” But what got my attention was an article that had a video attached to it, just like a typical magazine article with accompanying pictures, this video showed what the author was communicating. But there was also little redundancy, the video supported the article and the article supported the video. Neither one was self-supportive, yet put together they are powerful. I think this is known as synergistic. I do prefer print magazines in general but, so far, they lack video player capabilities.

A much different webzine I found is called The Pushrod, and it too is ultra niche. They, the parts supply company that produces it, actually call it a newsletter and is geared toward the classic Volvo enthusiast. The name, The Pushrod, refers to the type of engine that the older Volvos use, in contrast to the more modern overhead cam design which all the boxy looking Volvos use. There is a mix of articles but what I really like is the way it entices the reader to participate. For example, there is a photo contest where you can take a picture of you cool old Volvo and send it in to be judged (and possibly win prizes). Or, if you happen to have a Volvo project of your own, they offer the opportunity to publish your story of it.

Print Magazines

I picked up a recent copy of Sunset magazine because it had a beautiful cover. A picture of a trailer parked near the coast at a campground. It sounds simple, almost boring, but I engaged with it. I wished I was there. And if cover art makes an onlooker wish they were in that picture, then chances are they’ll pick it up. So I picked it up and enthusiastically--now I can’t say that I really do anything enthusiastically anymore, so this is a big deal--flipped through it enough to find another picture of the trailer, a 23 foot long fully equipped Airstream. I have a thing for Airstreams, and so do a lot of people because they are still being made to look the way they did fifty years ago. With their bright aluminum skin and rounded corners, they have achieved iconic status and people want them. I want one. So I read the article about a couple who goes on a road trip with a brand new Airstream and visits some of California’s best campgrounds. I liked it, so I examined the rest of the magazine and found other great pictures of food dishes with easy to follow recipes, and some home improvements. Stuff that interests me so I think I’ll read Sunset again.

Another magazine that I liked, Dwell, has (as the name implies) information on home improvement. They showcase some pretty remarkable examples of serious remodels that I find intriguing. Often times they seem unrealistic, but that may be part of why they are so interesting. I can’t say that I really like the writing, and I find that I will only read an article if I like the pictures. But they do have some pretty great pictures.

Summary

Hunter and Brandon after 25-hour race

Sometimes I think of myself as a writer. Not because I write, but because I think of writing. For me, writing is not easy. Nor is it fun. Though it can be satisfying, but not satisfying enough for me to do any significant writing outside of the requirements for school and such. So my writing experience has been mainly in the form of essays, a few short stories, and some screenwriting exercises. I usually procrastinate until the night before the assignment is due and stay up all night to jam it out. This has been an effective way of accomplishing the task at hand and I can trace this habit back to my first college writing class. It was at the College of Marin and I had tested into the advanced writing class for my first semester there. My teacher, Paul Miller--who had authored one of our required texts entitled First Aid Guide for Writers (which I still use to this day)--expected us to write seven or eight essays including a research paper for our final assignment. Well, I didn’t write every paper--I just couldn’t seem to fit Buddha’s Eightfold Path into essay form-- but I did do some research on the old rock quarry on San Rafael Hill. I started the paper twelve hours before it was due. Luckily, I had a mini coffee-maker in my room and was able to write a pretty decent essay that night. I ended up failing the class because of incomplete work, but I did get an “A” on my research paper. Mr. Miller had written something very nice on the front of it that read, “...you have the natural ability of a professional writer.” This was a blessing to receive and inspired me to think about writing more, however, it reinforced the idea that I could always write great papers the night before. I have written quite a few papers since then, most the night before, some fairly decent and earning good grades, but none that I am especially proud of. So now when I think of writing, I associate it with stress--and coffee, and numb legs from sitting motionless through the coldest hours of the night--even though it is the most creative thing I know how to do. Anyway, I would like to learn a less painful way to write, as well as improve my abilities. Eventually, I would like to submit my work for publication and get paid for it. I always thought that I would be an automotive journalist at some point in my life. I have always been into cars and have a strong background with them. After attending a two-year associates program in Automotive Repair Technology I became an ASE Master Certified auto technician and specialized in European cars: Porsche, Audi, Alfa Romeo. I worked at a world-famous Porsche race shop at Sears Point Raceway (now Infineon) and also had my own club-racing team with two of my best friends; the Alfa we raced took second-in-class at NASA’s first 25-hour endurance race. So given my experience with the automotive world, I might have something to draw from. However, I am in the process of changing my career to filmmaker, as I have a strong visual inclination, but who knows, maybe I’ll write after all.

The writing must be clean, clear and free of typos and errors.

This is a tall order for a Monday morning. I'll write more later. Just making sure this works.