Feedback to writers ??

[Irie I]

Do we give reggae writers as much feedback they should get ?... Do you help them with feedback when you could ? I ask because I dont when i know I should

[leggo rocker]

Reggae writers? What like Katz etc? Or songwriters?

[Irie I]

Yes , reggae journalists, writers of articles and giving them feedback .It must be very hard work.

[kalcidis]

Reggae journalists have done an incredible work in enlightening us. Some of them are easily contactable through web pages like;
Ray Hurford (Small Axe) - http://www.smallaxe.eu
Steve Milne (Full Watts) - http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/fullwatts/
Carter Van Pelt (400 Years) - http://incolor.inebraska.com/cvanpelt/
Beth Lesser (Reggae Quarterly) - http://www.freewebs.com/bethlesser/index.html

Other can be found on forums like the fantastic Penny Reel (make sure to buy his book on Dennis Brown - ESSENTIAL) or Steve Barrow.

Then there are a slew of classic journalist that aren't really seen that much on the internet which is a pity. One journalist I'd love to speak to some time is Carl Gayle who was a real pioneer.

My advice is that those that you can contact through mail ... send them a little message bigging them up. I'm sure it only would make their day.

[leggo rocker]

Yes , reggae journalists, writers of articles and giving them feedback .It must be very hard work.

If you love to write then it rarely seems like hard work. Time consuming, maybe. But a real writer gets joy from producing work, particularly when they are lucky enough to be writing on a subject that they have a passion for.

Sadly, IMHO some of the reggae writers are more reggae and not enough writing. Their writing craft lets them down and can make actually reading their stuff a bit of a struggle. But that's the same in all areas of writing and journalism. That's why sub-editors and ghost writers can make a good living.

[Irie I]

Yes , you have Peter I, Jim Dooley, Roger Stefens Chuck fostrer .. many more.

I know about some of them. Dont know Carl gayles work though.

[Ites]

there is writers like michael turner of the beat magazine as well, he's good. now that you raise this topic, i doubt most of them get the feedback they should. we can only imagine all the hours sitting there polishing their work. its necessary to get a response for that stuff, no doubt. also, some of them may be "more about reggae" but it doesn't distract my attention as long as the love and enthusiasm for the music is present

[leggo rocker]

Enthusiasm is FAR more important than writer's craft in any specialist subject. But if you can get the two together then you have the best results.

Yes, writers (and all kinds of artists) crave recognition, or at least all the ones I know do (I'm a journalist). We're basically just attention seekers!

Some like the recognition to come as dollars, but most just get a huge kick out of seeing their work published and having people say "hey, I really liked that article you wrote".

So any feedback on the reviews we've been writing for you guys in the new Album Reviews section would be most appreciated

[Ites]

its always a fine balance between craft and enthusiasm. generally i tend to appreciate most of the writings, i don't select a special one as any better than the other. each one have something special to add to the whole affair, as long as they don't repeat the same old cliches over and over.

btw, that 'attention seekers' had me laughing out loud!
good point.

[Ites]

it doesn't mean that all of them are 'attention seekers' though, i don't believe that for a second. they're on a mission, most of them, sharing their curiosity with the rest of us