Marcus Thompson Speaks on Sports Writing
Within the depths of an anxious crowd, gripping the edge of their seats as they hold their breaths and lean in to capture for themselves a moment in history where Stephen Curry effortlessly secured a three pointer, is a pair of eyes and a racing mind belonging to none other than sportswriter Marcus Thompson. His eyes roamed the court and the gears were turning in his mind. Everyone else was looking for the win, but he was looking for a good story.
Sportswriter for The Athletic, Thompson writes words that reflect the creativity of his mind. Thompson managed to put this is perspective by revealing the inside scoop of journalism- including the unavoidable struggles.
“There’s various kinds of writer’s block… learn yourself enough to know why you have writer’s block,” Thompson said, highlighting the difficulties of coming up with ideas for stories.
“We fail a lot… it’s not necessarily not getting it in, it’s knowing it might turn into something terrible… that’s the part you have to get over.”
As exciting as it is, journalism has no heart when it comes to distinguishing a journalist’s life from his work.
“The thing about news and information is that it has no regard for your life,” Thompson explained. “We leave here like 12:30 at night and then you can’t go to sleep cause you’re kinda wired from watching Steph Curry.”
In this profession, sleep becomes just a mere suggestion to Thompson as he is under the constant watchful eyes of thousands of people hungry for information.
“I like the storytelling aspect of it…I like the fact that people are waiting for me to tell them about it.” Having access to information is a power for journalists and many people often strive for that power.
“Everybody tells me ‘You’re insane, we want to do your job’…[but] I’ve had these bouts in my life where I’m like ‘Why am I doing this?’…I’m at a basketball game, I got friends who are in Africa saving people… people do real stuff.”
However, journalism is as real as it gets. The power of harnessing information comes with a price of cutthroat competition in this industry.
“What matters is… everyobody’s gonna write a story… how good is yours?” Thompson highlighted that the real struggle lies in making yourself stand out from the crowd.
“If you suck, you better get another job.”
Despite it all, Thomspon argued that as loaded as the profession is, it’s a one of a kind experience and “there’s nothing better, so it’s worth it.”
While writing quality certainly plays a big role, so does personality. Trying to tailor yourself to each person you talk to is like forcing a situation that doesn’t work. Thompson explained that one of his biggest takeaways from this profession was to be unapologetically yourself.
“I’m just gonna be me, which is a little crazy… mixed with some humor and an ability to write- and if it works it works, and if it doesn’t it doesn’t and I’m okay with that.”