The Lockerroom
This is a the place to discuss the site, community issues, discuss ideas for opinions, and other things related to the community but not specifically about sports. You can add something to the locker room by clicking the link.
Advice (and a Rule or two!) for ArmchairGM Beat Writers
I'm really excited that so many of you signed up to be ArmchairGM "Beat Writers". Yes, I'm going to be cracking the whip when you don't write your two articles a week (or if they're not thoughtful, journalistically good articles), but hey, I'm fair, so, here are my tips:
Some Style Pointers
One of my major goals is not only to give ArmchairGMers great articles on each team, but to also give outsiders a glimpse of our really good stuff. Here are some things you can -- and should -- do to make your articles better:
- Bullet items aren't articles. 300-1000 words, please!
- Don't put "______ Beat" in your title. It doesn't mean anything to an outsider. If you want to set your titles off, come up with something kitschy, like "Gang Greened" or "Metsival". (Both of those suck, I know.) But the title should be "Mets Trade Guillermo Mota for Johan Santana" or something like that, not "Mets Beat, October 22, 2007".
- Link to your sources. It's a great way to build recognition for your stuff, and besides, it's only right to give credit where credit is due.
- Add a picture. It's not the easiest thing to do (yet!) but does make a big difference. You can see a list of images and serch on the name at this list, and this should give you a bit of help. Even a logo of your team is fine.
Easy Sources
Just about every pro team amd most big college programs have at least one (and typically three-plus) blogs out there that focus 100% on that team. Find and bookmark those blogs; read what the bloggers are saying; and use their themes to inspire you. If you need help finding these blogs, leave a note on my board and I'll help. But it should be easy to find using these five things:
- Both MVN and SBNation have a lot of team-specific blogs.
- Most regional newspapers have blogs dedicated to the sports scene in the area; a lot have team-specific ones.
- Go to Google's Blog Search and Technorati and punch in a term that deals with some of your team's recent news -- such as, if you have the Yankees, you'd type in "Joe Torre". You'll get a lot of junk, a few spam blogs, and a few guys who are really dedicated. (Feel free to invite those guys over, too!)
- Once you find a good team-specific blog, check out their blogrolls. You'll find even more blogs!
Spread the Love!
By writing your Beat, you're joining a second community -- the community of beat writers for your team. The other people in the community are the authors of the "Easy Sources" listed above. You must make friends with them to be successful -- they'll be feeding you information and vice versa. To do this:
- Send them an email introducing yourself, and asking them to tell you when they've written about something interesting. You'll be linking to those things, remember!
- Email them once a week or so, telling them about what you're writing about
- Link to them!
Any other advice or questions, leave it in the comments!
