Hello, Orioles fans! Are you out there thinking that you would like to get a chance to write about O’s games but you’ve never had any idea how to get started? Here is your chance. Camden Chat is looking for a couple of recap writers to fill out our ranks.
There is no one exact way to write about a game, though if you are curious what exactly we’re looking for, here are a couple of examples, one written by myself, and one written by fellow Camden Chatter Stacey.
Different games call for different things, but generally, think of it as your chance to write something fun and informative about the game that just happened.
Before I get into what you can do to put your name in the hat, I want to be clear that I don’t have anything to offer beyond a chance for you to do something you will hopefully find fun. I won’t be asking much of you - one recap per week - and the reality is there’s no money in blogging for that. I wish it was different. Sorry.
What to do if you are interested
Write a recap of any one (1) Orioles game between now and Sunday’s game against the Astros. E-mail that recap to camdenchat at gmail dot com within one hour of the final out of the game in question. You should probably have at least 750 words to say about the game. More than 1000 is getting to be too much. That’s it.
A good recap will run through the important stuff that happened in the game, using spelling and grammar that does not leave me wondering how you completed your highest level of education.
You can tell me about yourself if you like, but you don’t have to do so. Also, writing experience is not necessary. I’ve run a blog for long enough to tell you that there are plenty of people who do writing in their regular jobs who are no good at this.
Sometimes they turn out to be flakes who forget when they’re supposed to post. Other times they don’t have any idea what they’re talking about. Let your recap speak for you. The only thing you have to be is an Orioles fan who wants to write about the Orioles.
It’s also not necessary for you to be an existing member of the Camden Chat community. You will have to create an account to write here, but it’s OK if I have no idea who you are until you e-mail me a recap.
Expectations for the writers who are picked
- Sign up for one recap per week. You can pick the same day every week if you like, or a different day each week if you prefer that.
- Join our Slack channel.
- Be able to understand the CC post editor. You don’t have to learn everything right away, and your fellow CCers are available for help.
- Mostly get stuff right without me standing over your shoulder to make sure you do so.
- When the offseason rolls around and there’s no new baseball to write about, I’ll look for a post every other week and we can figure out what later.
Things you should not do
- Try too hard to be funny
- Have paragraphs that take up 10+ lines
- Write about Matt “Weiters” or Steve “Pierce”
- Peddle hot takes like a hack newspaper columnist
I’ve probably forgotten some, but I trust that if you are Camden Chat material, you don’t need me to list any more because you already have an idea of what you should and shouldn’t do.
If you have any questions, please post them in the comments below so that I can answer them for you. Don’t post your recap in the comments or I will know you didn’t read the instructions.