*** The Big Feller replies to YOUR feedback!! ***

As they might say in the States... Thanks for all that, chaps: elk, I hear what you say about short sentences, and would agree if I were heading down a standard newspaper route. Ideally though, I'm not - because the chances of me eventually ending up as a no.1 for a broadsheet are just too remote, basically. No.1 writers guard their territory with their lives - and many, many successful journalists only get their break because of WHO they know, rather than what they know.

So I'm more with what Tomblander said: what I need is a Unique Selling Point (ugh!), so people can say "Ah, Shaun Lawson: he's the chap who wrote X", basically. And as things stand, that USP/niche is likely to be as someone who, David Conn-style, looks at the financial problems and boardroom machinations of various clubs over and above anything else - which is best done, surely, through a book (though developing my blog will help to some extent too - but I do only see it as a starting point, and aren't treating it any more seriously than that).

Also, the Editor of Milk: I agree that that's a problem, and have been caught between two stools (does that mean what I think it means, by the way? ;-)) of trying to sound professional, but at the same time writing as a fan too. So I've tried not to make it too personal: rarely using the first person, and saying 'this observer' or 'your correspondent' instead. I agree that it's iffy though, and feel uncomfortable and somewhat Waghorn-esque when doing so: so might just use the first person more in future.

Thanks again, everyone. And in terms of criticisms of what I wrote, that just leaves Mr Comecardiff - who'll have a response from me all to himself, coming right up!

Posted By: thebigfeller, Mar 1, 03:07:57