Bill Nack talked to us last week about the skills used to tell a story. He just happens to have told many of them about sports, but what he discussed could have been applied to any subject (as you heard, when he talked about one of his stories from early in his career dealing with sewage-treament plants on Long Island).
Storytellers, like Nack, and long-form pieces, like the ones he used to publish, are becoming increasingly scarce. You could consider that a bad thing, or it could be just another sign of the evolution of sports writing and sports media toward a shorter, more concise format, concurrent with electronic media.
Post your thoughts on what you took away from Nack's discussion. Did you love it? Were you inspired to go out and do what Nack regrets he never did - write a 7,000-word piece for Sports Illustrated entirely in iambic pentameter? Or, on the other hand, did you find some of the stories he told a little too long and labored? Do you think there's no place- or, at least, a much smaller place - for those kinds of tales in the new media market? Or did last week's class leave other impressions upon you?
Please post your replies by noon on Monday. Thanks. See you Wednesday at 11:45 a.m. at the Newseum.
Alan
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At one point I caught myself leaning forward as he spoke, literally creeping toward the seat’s edge. He had a gravity all his own, his words pulling each of us into his orbit. His voice lacked any discernible gravitas. It didn’t have the Vader like take-notice-gravel of James Earl Jones. Yet, if he wanted your attention he had it, effortlessly, completely.
ReplyDeleteMy background is in psychology, so I’ve learned about the autonomic responses the body makes when it’s captivated (the clinical term is aroused but that muddies things here). Eyes dilate, greedily trying to capture available light. The heart quickens its pace; generously pumping blood to muscles, its largess readying them for flight. The lungs expand, heaving as they force the chest to swell. As I found myself with these symptoms I surveyed the room, conducting an unofficial straw poll to see if anyone else was similarly afflicted.
I wasn’t alone.
Suddenly, I was the one walking behind Bobby Fisher. I was the one donning a disguise. I was the one stalking the man for months on end. I was the one trying to decide how to, or whether to, approach the prodigious chess board pugilist.
To me, that’s the gift of the raconteur, the ability to allow the audience to put themselves in the scene while you fade into the background, simply narrating in their minds.
For too short a time Mr. Nack was that narrator for us. At times you could tell how great he was, the deference you should have had, unmistakable. But at others he was just a guy. Maybe you just met him, maybe you were good friends, maybe he was just “Uncle Bill” who came for story time. Maybe it was his resemblance to Ed Asner that set us at ease the same way Lou Grant set Mary Richards at ease (Wow that skews old. Google it kids.).
If I may be so bold to solicit a sobriquet -- “The tactician.” A man whose writing and reporting skills were superb enough to transfer from sewage treatment in Suffolk County, Long Island, to “turf writing” at the Kentucky Derby, is a tactician. A man who counts the beats in his prose, an attempt at iambic pentameter, is a tactician. But his most admirable trait has nothing to do with his writing.
Most impressive, to me, was his decision to help Bobby Fisher preserve his privacy. It showed humanity. It showed compassion. In today’s journalism that compassion is lacking, if not non-existent. Too many seem too eager to barge in, rifle through a life, ransack a sanctuary and leave as quickly as they came, and for what? For a story, consequences to the subject be damned? He had reported from the periphery and had the story cold. Stopping Fisher likely would have yielded Nack little and cost Fisher big. So Nack minimized harm.
A great lesson for young journalists trying to maneuver in a business that values clicks over kindness. Sure Nack had the cache, and the cash, to take such a stance. But his decision still cost him. Some called him cowardly, some chastised him, editors demanded he find Fisher again. Still he remained steadfast. With salaries shriveling just like jobs, I can’t help but wonder if I could afford to be similarly compassionate.
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” One of the famous quotes by William Yeats couldn’t describe my reflection of Bill Nack’s visit any better. Ironic that William Yeats is a favorite of Nack.
ReplyDeleteStarting as a sewage reporter, Nack stands as one of the best sportswriters of the century and certainly a personal favorite.
His eloquence on paper seamlessly translates in person. “When you’re on deadline, the first thing that comes to you is clichés. They’re like fleas.”
I admired his passion for journalism. He bluntly stated the fact that you have to do what you love to be happy. For him that was writing on horseracing and chess, the only beat he ever asked for. Certainly two minor and overlooked sports of today, horseracing and chess were actually hugely popular in the 1970’s.
While he recounted so many thrilling, challenging, inspiring experiences, one that was especially memorable was his search for Bobby Fisher, the renowned yet mysterious chess player.
More than his tedious research over the 24-month adventure, I was fascinated by his decision to refrain from talking to Fisher. Oftentimes when you’re jotting down facts and impressions on that 4x9 inch notepad, you forget that you’re a human being first, and a journalist second. As a journalist, he probably should have talked with Fisher. Fisher was the subject of his story and a quote would seem mandatory.
However, his opting out speaks to his character. I mean, this is the a guy that preferred to fraternize with horse trainers rather than horse junkies; a guy that insists on reading poetry to advance as a writer; a guy that casually leans his chair back in front of a class of young journalists, casually reciting the ups and downs of being a journalist. Bill Nack certainly lit a fire in me that day.
There is a big difference between people who tell really long stories and people who tell really long, interesting, edge-of-your-seat, inspiring stories. It’s a no-brainer to classify Bill Nack as the latter.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know too much about the logistics of horse racing or sewage, but somehow, Nack was able to make both sound like a dream come true. He said although reporting for Newsday about sewage caused him to have, “some days where I’d rather be having a root canal,” he said he made the most of it and reported the heck out of all of his stories.
And, as for horse-racing, well, he, “found literature in a horse.”
Nack told story after story about his experiences as a journalist, going into full detail about his trials and tribulations following Bobby Fisher, and his dreams of writing a 7,000 word story for Sports Illustrated in Iambic Pentameter.
His accomplishments are impressive and certainly inspirational, but what I took away from his visit was his radiance.
Nack radiated love for his job. He wasn’t just a journalist to earn a living, his life was journalism.
“I loved it,” Nack said of his days as a turf writer. “I couldn’t wait to get out there every day.”
He radiated intelligence and inspiration and omniscience. He couldn’t have given better advice to a group of young, budding journalists.
“Follow your bliss,” he said. “Do what you love and do it for the right reasons.”
Anybody doubting their future careers in journalism was reassured of the breathtaking characteristics of the field, but they were also inspired to do what really makes them happy.
My grandmother always asks me if I’m sure I want to go into journalism despite traditionally low salaries for reporters. I’ve loved all of my experiences and classes so far, so I’ve always reassured her that I was doing what I wanted to do. But listening to Nack describe his experiences and dole out his wisdom, I couldn’t be any more sure.
I want to love my job just as Nack has loved his. I want to be excited every day and not see my work as a job. I want to be like Nack, and not only follow my bliss, but also achieve my bliss.
The stories William Nack told in class Wednesday absolutely blew me away. There's really no other way to say it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a storyteller. What a writer. What a career full of unbelievable opportunities.
One of the first things that impressed me about Nack was his appreciation for literature and poetry and the way he attempted and succeeded to incorporate it into his stories. I think Nack’s love of Yeats has inspired me to get out and read more great pieces of literature. Reading great work is an undervalued method to make your own work better.
The particular story about the line in the Mike Tyson trial story really exemplified the tremendous writer that Nack is. For him to think so thoroughly about each and every word on a very tight deadline, no less, represents a level of artistry seldom seen in writing. Then to go into an absolute rage when his story was changed shows the passion that is nedded to be as great as Nack is about something.
While it’s a pretty easy connection, I think it’s sometimes easy to forget that writers are storytellers. Some stories are more exciting to tell than others. For example, I liked Nack’s Secretariat and Bobby Fischer stories a little bit better than his sewage story, but he showed an ability to make all three interesting.
The Fischer story captivated me. Nack put a tremendous amount of reporting into finding Fischer. Though he wanted to speak to Fischer, he understood that misrepresenting himself would have dishonest and unethical. I think Nack’s ending was masterful, even though he didn’t talk to Fischer.
I think journalists like Nack are a dying breed. Because people just want news fast and in large quantities, the way in which it is conveyed has diminished in importance. However, a great storyteller is unmatched when it comes to sports writing. I want to be captivated rather than just informed. Nack did both of those things and showed the great experiences a journalist can have during his or her career.
When it was announced that William Nack would be speaking to our class, a mere 30 minutes from when he was supposed to arrive, I refused to believe it. I refused to believe that meeting the man I have wanted to meet for almost half-a-decade could be about to walk through our classroom door. But when he did, my heart stopped, suspended in a moment five years in the making.
ReplyDeleteIn our first blog posting where we answered the question “why we’re here,” I talked about our textbook, The Best America Sports Writing of the Century, and how it helped steer me towards journalism. But the detail I left out was that I knew 563 pages into that collection I wanted to be a sports writer.
It was not 30 seconds after I had read the last sentence of Mr. Nack’s Pure Heart, goose bumps still covering my body, that I finally knew what I wanted to do with my life.
So to see him right in front of me, teaching, sharing and expressing was surreal.
There were so many lessons and insights I was able to absorb from him, from the subtlest of details to the most obvious. The one that struck me the most, and probably most of us in that classroom, was that we need to follow our own bliss. Do whatever makes us happy.
And Mr. Nack is a testament to this very idea; his story as a one-time sanitation writer who followed his bliss, the horses, to becoming one of the best sportswriters of his generation.
Yet, his generation did it with beautiful stories, not little recaps and 140 character tweets like ours; a generation that is slowly being eroded from the journalism landscape.
I’m saddened by the shift away from long features and stories. I’m a fan of a nice long piece; I like being able to experience the time and effort a writer put into a 7,000-word story. Stories like Pure Heart are why I want to be a sports writer.
Even though I think in today’s media market there is less importance on the longer stories and an emphasis on breaking news, I feel there will always be a need for story tellers like Nack. I just hope that I am part of the group of sportswriter that takes up the torch of storytelling from Nack and the many other legends.
Which is why it was inspiring to hear Nack’s stories. For me it’s always inspiring to hear about the passion, to feel the fire from someone doing something they love. I could imagine him dressing himself as a bum, wandering that library, that city, all for the sake of finding a man thought to have vanished off the face of the Earth. I felt myself in that hotel room as he was screaming, cussing and setting off on a rampage over one word. But it was his word! I just hope one day my passion will rival that of Mr. Nack.
“I found literature in a horse,” he said. To me that was a challenge from him, a challenge for me to find literature in this world no matter how many words it may take.
I’ve shaken hands with President Obama, been congratulated by Tony Romo, and even had a one-on-one conversation with Helen Thomas. Yet, nothing compared to staying after class and speaking with Mr. Nack.
After reading Pure Heart five years ago, I always wanted to talk with him about that story; what was going through his head, how he went about writing it, and how he felt about the ending. But I was absolutely stunned to learn that he almost didn’t write that story, a story he had to be talked into it writing.
So as I left Knight Hall, I couldn’t help but think, what if he never wrote Pure Heart, would I still be pursuing a career as a sports writer? I don’t know, and I’d rather not find out. All I know is, William Nack and the passing of greatest racehorse that ever lived helped show me my bliss.
After reading the story about Secretariat in our class book, it was nice to put the author’s name to a face. When Bill Nack first started talking about his experience, I was a bit confused about how working as a sewage writer pertained in any way to our class or sports writing. However, the way that Nack spoke and had so much to say about all of his experiences was, quite frankly, inspiring, and even hearing about the sewage writing was interesting, even though this isn’t something that usual inspires a lot of interest from me. I think it’s absolutely amazing how many years Nack has been in the business of writing. Being a writer for over 30 years is quite impressive, especially by today’s standards.
ReplyDeleteI think that one thing that really resonated throughout all of Nack’s talk was something that he said toward the end: “follow your bliss.” You could really see that Nack has done this throughout his career, and it’s nice to see an example of someone who, even though he wasn’t quite unhappy when he switched career paths several times, really pushed himself to cover issues that he had a definite interest in. Nack didn’t always blatantly demand that he should be able to cover topics that he enjoyed, and this was something that I really loved about his experiences. He showed his editors and bosses that he had a knowledge of certain subjects and proved to them that he was the person that they should choose to cover things like horse racing and chess.
The part of Nack’s talk that I enjoyed the most was when he spoke about covering the horse racing for Newsday and Secretariat in particular. His love for the sport before he was assigned to this topic and his recount of visiting the Kentucky Derby as a teenager really added to just how legitimate he was to be covering this topic. I loved his background of the news business back in his early days and just how complicated it was to patch a story through the wire from Louisville back to Chicago. As Nack talked about covering Secretariat specifically as the horse emerged on the scene, he really demonstrated just how accommodating and flexible you have to be as a writer. Getting up at 5:30 a.m. every morning, even when a story isn’t guaranteed, shows real dedication, but Nack was committed to hanging around the stable to see what was to be learned.
Had there been more time with Nack, I actually would have liked to ask about his tactics for covering horse racing because a lot of general spectators only really follow the sport around the Kentucky Derby, Belmont and the Preakness, and I was interested to know how he dealt with this and how he found unique stories throughout the year and ones that didn’t just pertain to the races in general.
As an English major, when Nack started to get into how he loves literature and poetry, this really struck a chord with me. Instead of just writing a straight news story, the way that Nack talked about inserting a line of Yeats’ into his story was really inspiring, especially since he was talking about Mike Tyson, a tough guy that you might not associate with poetry.
All of Nack’s stories and tangents from our class discussion were extremely interesting and entertaining, and I think that as someone attempting to learn about covering sports in journalism, Nack was a great person to hear from because he’s covered so many topics in so many ways.
Nothing could've taken my attention away from Bill Nack. From the moment he walked in, he commanded our classroom, speaking with experience and gusto.
ReplyDeleteAs anyone would and deserves to after a career as Nack has had, he spoke about his accomplishments and shared big breaks and moments while reporting. From another this might have come off as bragging, but from Nack nobody minded.
He used humor and was candid about his experiences, copping to reading poetry to improve his writing. Many sportswriters would never admit this, and that he did made him that much more enjoyable and relatable.
He spoke a lot about horse racing, and while it's not the most popular sport, he managed to describe exactly what makes it so interesting to him. Nack showed us his passion when talking about it, and even sucked me into a story of a horse race, when I have no real interest in the sport.
Nack's story about tracking down Bobby Fisher was also interesting. The piece itself seemed unusual for sport journalism, as it wasn't dealing with a game or a match, but instead had the writer tracking down Fisher. Though he eventually elected to leave Fisher alone, he showed more about the recluse in that moment than he otherwise could have.
Nack's parting message, telling us to do what makes us happy, was also significant. While it's something that gets repeated a lot to young people in school, or considering school, to hear it from a guy that has actually done it means so much more.
Mesmerized.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a word that’s a little clichéd, but as Bill Nack said on Wednesday, “clichés are like fleas.” And right now, I’m having a difficult time swiping this pesky one away.
Nack commanded my full attention with each word he uttered last week. Whether the topic was boxing, horse racing, chess or even sewage, I was mesmerized.
I was held captive by his entire persona—his cadence, his experiences and his unadulterated enthusiasm. As he told each story, he did more than just lay it out. He re-experienced it.
You could see it in his eyes. He allowed his emotions to get the best of him without letting them run rampant. He let his personality dictate his storytelling, while still staying purposeful with each sentence he spoke. From a mere rhetorical standpoint, it was impressive.
But that’s not why I was mesmerized. I was mesmerized by his passion. It’s very rare to meet a person who truly loves what he does for a living. Sure, most people are interested in their chosen fields when they start out. But decades of the day-to-day grind have an uncanny way of squelching that enthusiasm.
As I sat on the edge of my seat in Knight Hall last week, I saw a 70-year-old man with the fervent wonder of a college freshman. The grind never dulled him. It just stoked his passion even more.
“I couldn’t wait to get out there every day,” Nack said at one point during his talk.
That sentence resonated with me because I could tell he really meant it. “Man, I’m so lucky,” I thought. “I’m entering a field that can hold someone’s interest for a lifetime. I want that to be me someday.”
So I’m just going to follow Nack’s advice and follow my bliss. Hopefully I’ll be mesmerized by what I’ll get up to do everyday. Just like Nack.
I don't think there's any sports that I could care less about than horse racing and chess.
ReplyDeleteYet, that didn't matter in the slightest when Bill Nack spoke Wednesday. I was so enamored by his passion for what he does that he could have spent the two hours talking about his days as a sewage beat writer, and I would have enjoyed it.
While I normally roll my eyes and have a good chuckle to myself when an older person rambles on and on, with sporadic sidebars, Nack's tales were so well-told that I didn't find myself doing so.
Unfortunately, I don't think that there is a place in the current sports media climate for such stories. Nowadays it seems to be quantity over quality. News organizations can barely afford to have staff writers nowadays, so the thought of paying feature-writers for more esoteric sports, and get minimal quantitive return is not something that I think companies are willing to do.
Finally, I loved that he told us to "follow our bliss." In the past few years I've been told so many negative, gloomy things by journalists that I've started to grow apathetic towards the field.
Getting paid to do something that we genuinely love is the dream. It is indeed, "bliss." Nack inspired me go out and find whatever that is for me. Maybe it's writing about sports. Maybe it's something else. Whatever my "bliss" may be, listening to someone who had found theirs, truly made me happy for those two hours he was in our class.
"Follow your bliss." Words that stuck to me and refused to leave my side. "Follow your bliss, follow your bliss, follow your bliss." It was stuck in my head on repeat like a horrible pop 90s song. I'm always asked, "Why are you doing this, you know you're not going to make any money right?" On Wednesday, the answer to everyone's question was given. I'm simply following my bliss. William Nack was once too asked why was he doing what he was doing, and although he couldn't remember his response you could tell it was because he loved his work. He loved writing about the equestrian sport and no one could change his mind.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Nack told stories that made you believe you've known him since childhood. He wrapped his words around you and captivated you in beautiful moments. The story that really caught my attention was the one of Bobby Fischer. If you had the opportunity to talk to someone every single sports writer was trying to get their hands on, would you pass up the chance? Nack did. Bobby Fischer liked his privacy and Nack respected that. He received a lot of backlash from it, but you learned a lot about his character. I know a lot of greedy journalist who doesn't think twice about people's privacy. They want the story, they're going to get it by any means necessary. The fact that Nack was right there by Fischer and let him leave the scene without any questions asked shows what kind of journalist he is. Journalist like Nack are on the verge of being extinct.
Wednesday's class with William Nack was a fascinating one. At first I was a little sleepy and I thought the old print reporter was going to put me to sleep. I perked up when he began talking about how he got his job as a turf reporter. Standing up in the middle of a work Christmas party and reciting all of the Kentucky derby winners after a couple of drinks. Hilarious.
ReplyDeleteEverything else he talked about had me completely hooked. Talking about the Mike Tyson trial and how he and the other boxing writers knew Tyson's body language during his accuser's testimony was interesting. The fact that he wrote 800 words in 30 minutes was something that blew me away. To me, that seems incredibly daunting, if not completely impossible.
I loved the story about Bobby Fischer. The way he built up suspension over the period of time that he told it was astounding. The lengths that he went to find this guy and then in the climatic ending, he decides not to talk to him, it couldn't have been scripted any better. It really seemed like he had just finished writing the story the day before with the way he vividly recounted it.
In addition to his stories, Nack gave some really good pieces of advice and wise words that I will certainly hold on to. The first of which, and the most important, was "follow your bliss." It seems trite, but coming from someone who followed his and turned it into a successful career makes it something worth taking to heart.
Nack also said when he writes something, he likes to set up a good scene. I think this is key in trying to get your reader into the story, and really have them put themselves into the experience being described.
Finally, Nack encouraged us to not read trash, but instead read poetry and literature. I don't think I'll go so far as to read poetry but he is certainly a prime example of someone who elevated their writing by soaking in quality content.
“What are we doing in a classroom on a day like this?,” said Bill Nack as he walked in to our sports writing class on Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteFrom that moment forward he had me hooked with his light hearted manner and ability to keep us laughing with anecdotes about writing about fresh water and sewage for Newsday and reciting the names of Kentucky Derby winners from the top of tables at Christmas parties.
Bill Nack’s presentation, which was more like a trip down memory lane with an old friend, was one of the most inspiring meetings we’ve had all semester. As I listened to him talk about how he stumbled upon a job as a turf writer that would lead him to one of the most fulfilling experiences of his life, writing a book about Secretariat, I found myself leaning over the desk as if I was being pulled into one of his long feature stories. I found myself wanting to Google Yates poems in hopes that reading the greats would help me become a more riveting story teller.
By the end of our conversation with Bill Nack, I was longing to be a journalist in the days when writers could devote a month, week or even a full day to meeting people and writing about every aspect of horse racing or finding disguises to use while hunting down Bobby Fisher. I felt as if I’d missed the hay day of journalism.
Now, journalists are lucky if they have time to devote themselves to one specific story for too long because they are responsible for churning out so many articles per day. Since people have access to so many forms of media via the Internet, long feature pieces like the ones Bill Nack is so famous for have a much smaller place in newspapers. They are a tool more likely to be used by bloggers who have unlimited time and space to devote to writing about one subject.
Bill Nack had the opportunity to pace himself and write about subjects that interested him. With the size of newspapers shrinking and a need to constantly update stories and blogs holding journalists back from thorough reporting I feel as though I won’t be afforded the same opportunity. The fact that Bill Nack got the chance to find literature in horses was inspiring, which makes the idea that there may not be any more literature in journalism sombering.
You know you’re reading a good story when you can’t seem to put it down until you have finished reading it in its entirety.
ReplyDeleteFor me personally, I can’t say that many pieces of writing have successfully intrigued me as a don’t-go-to-sleep-until-you-finish-reading story. Only a select few writers have grabbed my attention from the get-go, and Bill Nack has recently become one of them.
The key to being a successful writer is to pull readers into the story with the first few sentences or paragraphs. Whether for a newspaper, magazine, or novel, writers need to have the creativity and skill to make readers feel they are a part of the story.
After reading three of Nack’s stories from three different years from the Sports Illustrated vault, “Up in Smoke,” “Party Crasher,” and “The Return of Seabiscuit,” I have officially become a fan of his work for his pure storytelling capabilities in a journalistic environment.
In “The Return of Seabiscuit” where he was reviewing the recently-released movie based on Laura Hillenbrand’s book, “Seabiscuit,” he wrote, “The book has been viewed by some as a chance to inspire a renaissance in a sport that was once among the most popular in America, but no book or movie is going to bring back the crowds that filled the tracks back when the grandstand aprons were seas of fedoras in Movietone black-and-white and racing was the one game in town suited for adults only.”
Although he says no book or movie can recreate the experience of any sports event, he makes a truly good attempt at doing so. His movie review is far more than a simple movie review describing the plot.
The detail he includes makes his articles feel like short novels, making me feel like I am watching the horses round the bend head-on for the finish line to win by a nose.
I like to say that I am a sports fan at heart, but never before have I been as nearly interested in horseracing as football, basketball, or lacrosse, until now.
His stories bring back the glorified days of horseracing when only black-and-white film existed. He provides that “chance to inspire a renaissance” in horseracing for the modern-day individual, including myself, and garners more support and love for this classic sport through his writing.
Successful storytelling is more than the details on the surface, more than the creative phrases that replace the ordinary, and more than the keen selection of quotations that add to the story.
The love for what you’re writing must shine through, and for Nack, I can tell he has a deep love for horses. He genuinely seems to have enjoyed every minute of covering the tracks and writing about what made each horse race unique and memorable.
His stories may be long, but they are worth the read. Nack is one of the few writers who have mastered how to keep readers turning the page. Even today, whether we are turning the page in person or electronically, his stories, including those from the ‘90s, deserve a spot among the best sports writing in history.