Wednesday, September 30, 2009

North Face meets South Butt and I'm a happy writer


I had a blog all written. Maybe I'll post it tomorrow, but I have to tell you about my exciting morning. Yes, I'm working on yet another article for Suite 101 and it has been such fun!

I remember the enthusiasm in the newsroom when great breaking news came in. The kind of story you could work with. And then the motherlode -- two stories that you could put together into an even better story!

Today was a motherlode day! North Face Inc., retailer of adventure wear, shoes apparel and equipment for the climber and risk takers who like to hang off cliffs and dangle thousands of feet in the air. They've been around for 40 years and made a claim that the EPA could not tolerate. Shoes that killed bacteria. So EPA is suing North Face's parent company. You can read more about it in the article.

While surfing the EPA site and news sources for more information I came across an article stating that North Face is suing Jimmy Winkelmann for trademark infringement. Jimmy has a line of t-shirts with a 'South Butt' logo. I think North Face should win their suit, but who knows. Anyway, my excitement has nothing to do with any of these people and their suits, but out of the fun I just had mingling the two stories into one of my own: Law Suits Hover Around North Face Inc., which is available for your enjoyment at Suite 101.

Today the synchronicity was dancing all around me and I'm so pleased to be able to combine the two related but diverse stories. I love irony and humor and the unusual and when I can put them all into a staid old story about an EPA lawsuit -- its a happy day.

Writers who find a relationship for the unrelated, or find two sides of a story that turns it into something very different should put Butt in Chair and not stop writing until the article, story, essay is finished! They don't just fall in your lap. Sometimes it takes some searching. Knowing how to use keywords and which sites to cover help, but then again, sometimes it does just appear on the screen and you hear angels sing.
Today's Exercise: Search keywords, maybe a company name and see what comes together. Or pick a topic you know nothing about and learn something new today.

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