Disqus - Latest Comments for Brad_King

Re: So Far Appalachia, Session 3: Double Spacing

Brad_King — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:13:55 -0000

Only fueling the fire, ms. willo. Only fueling. the. fire. ;)

Re: Writing Salon

Brad_King — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:09:29 -0000

test

Re: "How many special people change? How many lives are living strange? Where were you while we were getting high?"

Brad_King — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:35:06 -0000

Thanks Judy B :) I'm not sure if they are demons because I don't want to chase them away. They are simply part of who I am now. And yes, I would be mad at me for that :)

The Muse, as it turns out, is an actual person in my life. Someone who I remain close with, but with whom I've damaged enough over the years that our relationship is forever changed. I certainly love her in very simple ways. And she reciprocates. But the damage to some lives can't swept away.

That's all. Nothing deep or sorrowful really. Just musings :)

Re: Audio: So Far Appalachia

Brad_King — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:08:56 -0000

Hey Jason:

You're comments make me laugh. You should totally write a book. Speaking of, what's the status of your writing these days? Or are you to busy making babies and then doing this disrepuatable - and easy - thing: raising them instead of writing.

Cop out.

Thanks for listening, btw. I'm kinda stoked about these prospects although I guess we'll see if the rest of the world is as well.

Re: Writing + Addiction

Brad_King — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:30:48 -0000

I think it's different for everybody. Or at least every writer that I know. When I write, finished or not, I'm always immediately engulfed by a tremendous emptiness. I'd say it's awful, but that presumes there is any feeling at all.

It's the void that comes after for me.

Re: "Too weird to live, too rare to die"

Brad_King — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:01:34 -0000

Ohhhh...tell her that if you had a couch like that, I'd definitely visit more often. And go to church.

Re: "Too weird to live, too rare to die"

mattcolwell — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:00:55 -0000

OK, I am in the process of "working" Kristi for a new couch, TV, and TV stand for the "MatT Cave" downstairs!!!

Re: "Too weird to live, too rare to die"

Brad_King — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:40:27 -0000

And I am proud to be yours brother. Looking forward to seeing your family tomorrow + to watching the beloved Bengals on opening day. We should plan the weekly Sunday trip! I will drive down for that, absolutely.

Re: "Too weird to live, too rare to die"

Brad_King — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:38:52 -0000

test

Re: AEMJC Column: Coming in September

Brad_King — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:54:23 -0000

:) This is true; however, the end is not here for storytelling. And there will be a role for journalists in the future (and I even suspect will have large, national newspapers and some very small community ones as well. Not everything will go digital.)

It is amazing that people with no functional understanding of technology will argue, passionately, with those of us who do. Insisting we are wrong. I no longer deal with those folks.

I do, though, like conversations with people who have their expertise who legitimately can swallow their ego, who want to work together to build these new forms and businesses. This column will be aimed at them.

You'd probably fall into that group.

Re: Making Muncie

mnrqz — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 05:17:14 -0000

Right on. Thank you, sir. I've certainly done the research. Now, I pitch a the heavy story. Cheers again!

Re: Making Muncie

Brad_King — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:28:13 -0000

I would suggest that you define "fine American storytelling" means. I don't really know what the specific thesis is - IOW, what is it about YOU that offers a template for the greater story (which you just suggest). You haven't given anything here that suggests you've done the research which will allow you to say: this is the path that many others have experienced (e.g. numbers or qualitative research).

That's what I would do to fix it up. Add some concrete details to the pitch graf that allow you to make the broader argument (which is the last sentence in that pitch)

Re: Making Muncie

mnrqz — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:21:46 -0000

True. True. So would this be a decent pitch?--

Sentence: The fiscal collapses in the American news industry can be reduced to the worship of news-making over the financial incentives of fine American storytelling.

Pitch: This story begins in the Washington D.C. Scripps-Howard newsroom during Barack Obama's inauguration and proceeds through my hiring and firing at the St. Louis Beacon; exodus in the blogosphere; and arrival in the Google News search via The Huffington Post. It will be written in the tradition of fine American storytelling, offering historical & procedural analyses of news-making & storytelling en route to the conclusion that great storytellers create followings that in 2009 have and can finance news-making.

?

Re: Making Muncie

Brad_King — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:41:49 -0000

The JK stuff was REALLY glitchy with my comments so I changed back. Now Disqus won't import that comments from the other system. **Sigh**

Essentially I said this: there is no "template" for writing pitches. As an editor, though, I would never hire someone who couldn't boil their story into one sentence with a paragraph, maybe two. There's not really an excuse for a writer to *not* do that as it is our craft :)

Re: Making Muncie

Brad_King — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:56:09 -0000

test

Re: What’s in a Story (A Witty Response)

Brad_King — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:02:50 -0000

To your points, in particular order:

The idea that people experience the story differently is not concerning in aggregate, although certainly will lead to frustrations in the specific. Try having a discussion with someone who has a limited perspective on a topic -- and we all have done -- and you'll understand.

However, I am more concerned with the aggregate. The whole of the story. And I have an unwavering belief in the wisdom of crowds. That given enough data, truth will emerge to the majority. That may be my United State of utopia bubbling up. I concede that as a reality. I am -- like the criminal justice system -- willing to understand that a few criminals will go free in return for as much assurance that innocent people will not go to jail. It's imperfect but slanted towards "the truth", whatever that may be.

I am sure that not EVERY story will be distributed. There is a place for the B-M-E and interactive story to stand alone; although I think given the right tools, most of those stories will eventually become part of a larger stream. But even if they don't, I would argue that doesn't diminish their impact. It simply makes them different.

I think I made clear -- although possibly not -- where the BME and interactive "news" story would fit into the stream. If not, let me state in no uncertain terms there will be a need for such stories. To direct. To provide context. To fill in gaps. These types of stories are a necessary COMPONENT of the stream. But with equal weight to the data and the presentation.

In your case, I would argue that bringing distributed stories from fiction will mirror the land of fan fiction. Given the right tools, you can both offer the BME or interactive experience and then allow the creation of a stream. Much like Garriott's vision with Ultima -- a sandbox (although yours would be far less limiting than a game world) and a Heroe's Journey -- the story you discuss would contain elements of both.

But even if it turned Interactive instead of distributed, I would argue that is okay. Not every story in the digital world must be a Web Native story (e.g. distributed). We make decisions as to what we want to do and deploy the technology that makes the most sense.

Re: Hold Me in Your Thoughts, Take me to Your Dreams

Brad_King — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:20:20 -0000

Haha. Fuck them. They get enough already. You know, like being well-adjusted. Bastards always want everything!

Re: The Fedora

Brad_King — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:10:58 -0000

Kohls is in the middle of their Fourth sale. That hat was like $10 or something ridiculous. I am very happy. I've scoped target too :) Love it.

Re: You Need a Bigger Theme

Brad_King — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:22:09 -0000

From the mouth of one of the writer friends ;) Who I've had the benefit of sharing some of that happy sadness with.

Re: My Infinite Jest

Brad_King — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:03:48 -0000

Hey Neil:

OCPD is actually different than OCD. Instead of the ticks that people with OCD have (that's an imprecise way to describe it), mine manifest themselves as rules for interactions and relations. It's quite interesting, when I step away from it; not so much when I'm in the middle of it :)

For a long time, I just kinda kept it to myself and my inner-circle of friends, but for me, it's a daily reality. It seems only fair to talk about it since other folks have to deal with it. (And, you know, I don't really feel badly about having to deal with it.)

Glad it was helpful to read :) We all certainly have our stuff so we may as well talk about it.

Re: My Infinite Jest

JoeKikta — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:41:35 -0000

Brad,

You should feel honored to be compared to MJ!

Life is definitely about dealing with insanity: yours, everyone else's and the random insane events that result!

Re: My Infinite Jest

Brad_King — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:24:41 -0000

Hey Joe:

I'll act as if I wasn't just compared to Michael Jackson ;)

I'm not sure that it doesn't consume my personal life - or my work life - or the other parts of my life. All I do know is that I feel more normal knowing about than I did before I knew about it.

In the end, all any of us can really do is try to manage our own insanity. Some days it's easier than others. Some days its harder. But as long as you keep putting one foot in front of the next and try to pay attention, it seems there's always another day to try.

Re: Twitter heading off editorial cliff (Scripting News)

Brad_King — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:06:06 -0000

This is a great, cogent post on the dangers of the SUL. I'm not convinced it's a bad thing inherently, but your point is certainly one that companies should be wary of. What is the solution for this? Lists are inevitable - so how are they managed?

Re: Doing Right Things

Brad_King — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:52:02 -0000

Well loads of them were Americans, so I think they'd be confused if I used bloke (I also don't know if Brits actually use that word)

:)

Was definitely worth the price of admission, that's for sure.

Re: Brad King, Theater Dialect Coach

Brad_King — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:44:53 -0000

:) I love it