[Roccus]

Got a bit of a lull between deadlines and, as I promised John M., thought I’d drop back in to clear up a few loose ends left dangling from my last visit to the forum.

Seems a few forum members are convinced that writers should write only from their personal knowledge. Sorry guys. It doesn’t work that way. Any writer worth a damn will always want to provide as much information as possible. To do otherwise is to cheat the reader. Writers ask questions. It’s part of the job. If you doubt what I say, call around to as many professional writers, editors and publishers as you wish. Again…writers ask questions; that’s why the Lord invented experts.

A few members felt that I wasn’t entitled to ask for help unless I contributed something to the forum. Fine…I do that every month. Eight columns worth monthly over at WWW.Noreast.com…drop by and help yourself to whatever you find informative or entertaining. No charge.

There was some discussion about whether I had the right to ask questions in the forum for articles I intended to write. It’s not church or hallowed ground over here, as far as I can see. It’s a message board; twenty years ago it would be three by five cards on a corkboard. Now we use computers.

But I’ll always let folks know when I’m asking for information that I intend to use in an article. And, for a tip that I get from someone and use in a piece that I write, YES, I CREDIT THE SOURCE IN THE ARTICLE.

Credit and payment seemed to be on the minds of a number of forum members. I’ve already addressed the issue of credit. For those who feel they ought to be paid for their idea, feel free to write the thing yourself and sell it to whatever magazine will write you a check, and more power to you. And, yes, of course I get paid for articles I write; I’m a professional. That’s the definition of a professional…someone who gets paid for his work, regularly.

To those who offered such splendid tips as “open the box before you fish the lure” and “use explosives and blow up the fish”, or words to that effect, I offer you in return, this from Mark Twain: “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to start talking and remove all doubt.”

Finally, I want to thank all those who shared tips, anecdotes, ideas and photos, either by e-mail or on the message board. I appreciate the help and, judging by what came in, it will certainly make for a more informative article.

And, yeah, I guess I'll stick around here in Striper Talk - so far it's been an interesting place to drop in and visit.

Jerry Vovcsko