Wintle?s World ? Fishing: Give and Take

[Gary Dolman]

So why would a fishing site defy the 90/10 rule that seems to pervade most areas of life?

In most areas of life there are those who contribute & those that do not, however it seems that in the FM site we have several stages of participation, starting with the majority who just log onto the site, and view the articles & look at the forums.

Then there are thecontributors to the forums, and I bet that 90% of the posts come from 10% of the contributors.

From the contributors then there are a further 10% who pen most of the articles, and I don't underestimate the talent that we have on the site, who obviously contribute for reasons not of financial gain, but they must get something out of the process. Most of the contributors on here have their own style of writing, varying from Kevin's unique view on life, right through to Sean's analytical style and personally I enjoy reading most of the articles.

 

[Specihunter]

Once the new season kicks in i'm going to start .

 

[Mark Wintle]

One thing that I didn't mention in the article and that hasn't come out in discussion but did in passing when talking to Graham M. was that many would-be writers lack the confidence to have a go. They're scared that they will somehow cause offence or be mocked for what they write. This is nonsense though a normal human failing in fear of the unknown. Those that write prolifically all started somewhere, and often those early attempts were crude compared to their laterwork, yet regardless of this they pressed on, gaining experienceat the hands of helpful editors and through practice. I noticed this recently in reading the first Rebus book by Ian Rankin after reading several later ones. The later ones are more polished and fluent. Long before I went near FM I wrote club reports for about three years, discovering the impact of editing as well as editing an in-house newsletter at work - all good practice.

Gary's 10%of 10%? More like 2% of 2% not that I've done the maths.

Just think of wring your first article like your first driving lesson only far less frightening or dangerous, and ultimately giving you the freedom of the pen as opposed to the road.

 

[Skoda]

When I first discovered FM it was through a search about Swale barbel written by Sean Meeghan. It was an inspiring account of a year’s fishing for barbel and technically very informative. I’d already written some fishing holiday stories for my own pleasure but chanced my arm and inquired of Graham whether they might be interesting to the FM readership, I cut them down quite a bit(still need editing!). I’ve been fortunate enough to have four used and I have to say it’s quite a buzz when you see them on the site.Mine are too long for the normal format but I’ve got a couple of shorter ones incubating at the moment that will be ready soon. These things don’t just happen but I take your point, Mark, I watch far too much telly.The forums are fantastic but take a huge amount of time to reply to. Some of these guys should be writing sit-coms, I’ve never laughed so much. An incredible amount of talent and I’m sure given the confidence they could contribute some brilliant articles.Have a goAndy

 

[Skoda]

My formatting hasn't come out quite as intended. It should end:-

Have a go.

Andy

 

[Nathan]

I've been considering writing an article but my biggest worry is that i'll produce something that Matt Corker would be proud of. I'm never quite sure how much detail is too much as some people want to know your every step while others prefer a brief overview.

I've got a 'write up' of a trip to Linear fisheries which i feel is far too long, if anyone wants to have a look at it & give me some feedback on how it could be improved pls let me know.

I'm doing a session at a local carp water soon which i was planning to do a write up on so i may have an article to submit to Graham in the next month or so.

 

[Paul H]

You can't please all the people all of the time Nathan, you can only write what you feel comfortable writing. Everyone has their own style.

I would say if you are writing a technical piece like 'this is how you fish the waggler' then there can't be too much relevent information.

If you're writing up a day's fishing or a campaign of some sort then just general information about tactics and what, if anything, you may have changed as time went on.

Or you could just go for the Chris Yates' approach and philosophise about fishing and it's pleasures.

 

[Muffin]

Nathan,

Thats the beauty about FM, its full of different people with different personalities, not everyone reads the same newspaper, so I'd say dont try and be everything to everyone.

Write your article in your style and get some of your personality into it, and I'm sure people will value your thoughts and ideas, but above all you will never satisfy all of the people all of the time!

Good luck!

PS, I'm no expert, just looking at it from a neutral point of view

 

[Nathan]

Ok, i'll have a look at my old write up & see where I can improve it a bit & then possibly send it to Graham to rip apart /forum/smilies/wink_smiley.gif

As i said im planning a few days out soon so i'll have another potential article in the bag in the next month or so.

 

[Ian Gemson]

Nice article Mark well written i hope it make a few people search deep and put pen to paper and add something to this great site.

Sometimes however you have to wait what seems like a life time to get your articles posted unless you bribe the right people ?. LOL

Tight Lines