Congrats, but making money in the US with songwriting and poetry says nothing about the quality of your writing skills. I wish you luck for all your future endeavours, though (I don’t mean this ironically)
I didn't say I was making my writing money from songwriting and poetry. People are paying me to write shit for them (probably not because my writing sucks). I'm also helping two writers put novels together. Again, probably not because my writing sucks.
Ironically? Don't you mean sarcastically? Ironic is unexpected or coincidental.
Redundant. Already told you why I disagree.
You can disagree all you want. It's your opinion, and it is not a PROFESSIONAL opinion. Like I said, you criticize accomplished writers, so what you're speaking on is your own taste and not actual knowledge of how a writer should write.
Jürgen Klopp used to play in the 3rd German Football Division. The guy never really had any talent as a player. But he studied the game viciously and became a great coach. He’s now the head coach of Borussia Dortmund, which are bound to win the title this year (Superbowl equivalent). Klopp never had to become a great football player in order to fully understand the game and be able to judge its contents. See my point?
You know what they say..."Those who can't, teach." This is why I write and don't tell other people how to write.
Anyone with $5,000 can print a small amount of books or newspapers. My point: I don’t have to be a rapper to say that Masta Ace raps good and Nelly or Serio don’t.
Again, it's your opinion and not based on any expertise whatsoever. Rap is an entirely different ball game, bro. In fact, any music is an entirely different ball game. You have song structure, but you can say whatever you want, how you want. If you want to be a good, well-respected writer, you must have a good command of the English language, something interesting to write about, understand sentence and paragraph structure, know how to spell, and captivate your audience by painting pictures with words.
These days, the only thing that makes music sell is a beat and a hook. That's the equivalent of having a nice book cover and a catchy title.
Is that your excuse for sloppy work? Like in I knew it was a fact, just didn’t feel like finding it at the time? You should take the fact that I considered it Journalism as a compliment. I didn’t realize the website offers recreational writing, which, I take it, completely relies on the authors mood to be factual. The world really needs more of these sites.
I didn't need to find it...it wasn't part of my agenda. Sloppy would be stating something as a fact without citing it. I knew it was a fact but could not confirm it at the time, so I did not quote it as a fact. It's that simple. And why would I consider journalism a compliment? Journalists are one-sided and have their own agendas. Journalists feed you the side that fits THEIR views, but don't cover entire stories. Their job is to be balanced, which they are not. My job for this article was to pick a side and make an argument, which I did.
And no, recreational writing is what it is...recreational. It's not always to post facts. Many articles on my site are opinion and advice pieces. I have no desire to be a journalist. The people who write for me have been through a lot of shit in life, including myself. The MAIN purpose of our site is to entertain people with sports and give advice to those who seek it. Go read the mission...
The same counts for your devine editors and publishers who first had to read a good amount of books and articles to become who they are. You have no idea how many times later well established writers have been rejected by editors and publishers who thought they had shitty literature in front of them! Just because you pursued a commercial career in the field doesn’t make you automatically good at it..and it certainly doesn’t mean you know more about literature than someone who has had more input and experience in his life. More input – more knowledge – more objectiveness in your judgment.
Of course they were rejected...everybody gets rejected at some point. Nobody claimed to know more about literature than anybody. Why do you keep comparing this to literature? Did I write a book you didn't like that I don't know about? And you don't know what input or experience I've had in life. You know what you see right here, and that's it. All I know is I wouldn't be where I'm at in life RIGHT NOW if I were a stupid individual who couldn't write (like you seem to believe).
Tell me this. You said you only played devils advocate. But what is your personal opinion concerning the article. Do you think the country would be a little bit more relaxed if Marijuana became legal? Don’t you think the article has a certain undertone and implicates your personal opinion all along?
I don't have an opinion on weed legalization or decriminalization. I couldn't care less because it doesn't affect me or my family. Do I think it will reduce crime? Yes. Do I think it will end crime? No. Do I think weed makes people stupid? That's up for debate. Some people are complete morons, and some people handle their weed well. The same goes for anything. So no, I don't really care if it's legal, illegal, decriminalized, or wiped off the planet. What I do know is there are a lot of people who say certain things about weed. Being a person who used to smoke it and who many folks respect, the unpopular side was a good one to pick to show that it isn't as bad as the government has labeled it.
And no, I don't think the article has a certain undertone. I know exactly what it is because I'm the one who wrote it. People know if I say I'm not taking sides, I'm not taking sides. This is the reason you will never find a "fact-based" article backing a left or right on my website...because we choose not to go there. However, we have a healthcare article written by somebody who has to deal with the bullshit politics of healthcare every week. So while he doesn't agree with healthcare reform by Obama, he only speaks from his experience dealing with a state-run worker's comp program.
At the end of the day, you think what you think. I can't change that, and I don't care to.