About Me Q/A
The Rusty Shackleford Story
I’m using a blogging prompt from the publication “Bloggers Ink” by Just Jaz 🏳️🌈 here on Medium.
For the first part, I’m supposed to say my name and use five words to describe myself.
Here it goes!
I’m Rusty
Hey all, my name is Rusty.
Well, technically that’s not my name. It’s my pen name.
The five words I would use to describe myself are as follows: Resourceful, Unique, Stoner, Hippie, and Gamer.
I started blogging for a few reasons.
- I wanted a way to channel my creative energy into writing.
- I got laid off from my job and wanted to do something different. I wanted to become a freelance writer and build my portfolio.
I blog about humorous stories of my life and different stories that I experience daily. Sometimes I will write articles about things that I just enjoy and want others to know about. Other times I write about things that I am struggling with in my life that people can relate to.
Who Are Some Of Your Favorite Medium Writers?
While I love when people read what I write I also love reading what other people write.
I love anything that Jason Provencio writes. He was one of the first writers that I followed when I joined Medium. I started writing for his publication “Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs” not long after that. He’s like my brotha’ from another motha’. He writes humor pieces and we just get along so well. Check out some of his stuff! You won’t be sorry!
Another one of my favorite writers is Shane Berry. He writes articles about all kinds of different aspects of life. He reads just about everything I post and leaves nice comments. He’s a pretty cool dude.
My last favorite writer goes to Robert G. Longpré. We both started writing on Medium around the same time. We think of each other as Medium twins. He writes different articles about his life and throws his unique spin on them. I see he just hit 300 followers! Congrats Robert!
What Are Three Of Your Favorite Medium Publications?
Well obviously I’m biased because I write for them, but my first favorite publication is Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs. There are stories from so many people from different walks of life and it’s just a great community. Everyone there is so nice and the articles are always interesting.
Another one of my favorite publications is SlackJaw. I’m a humor writer so I like reading humor pieces. From what I’ve heard it’s hard to get published through them because they are so popular. Maybe one of my pieces will be published through them someday. Until then I’ll just keep sending in pieces to get rejected. Something is bound to stick.
My last favorite medium publication is Illumination. They have interesting viewpoints and I always end up reading some of the things that come out of this Pub. They have some great writers over there and I look forward to reading them more as my journey on Medium continues.
Which 3 posts from your blog would you recommend reading first?
My first pick is going to be my first humor piece. When I wrote it I didn’t know that humor was going to be my niche. I was just experimenting and trying to find my writing voice. I finally said fuck it and just let the words fly. Read about my addiction to the PSL from Starbucks.
My next pick is another humor piece. I wrote it pretty recently but I was laughing the whole time I wrote it. It’s about how we need to just let go. Too often we let other people suck the life out of us as we continue to give. Some people just aren’t worth that energy. Hopefully, you get a good laugh out of it.
The last one is, you guessed it, another humor piece. It’s made me the most money since I posted it but that’s not why it’s one of my favorites. Sometimes you have to just look back at something that happened to you and laugh. This is one of those. I just can’t believe that this happened to me.
What Does Your Writing Process Look Like?
Well, the first thing I do after I have my cup of coffee in the morning is read other people’s work. It inspires me to write something of my own.
Anytime I get an idea for an article it’s normally just a title with a subtitle that I’ll draft in Medium. When I sit down to write anything, I have a bunch of different ideas to choose from. I find that it keeps me from having that blank page to stare at. It’s easier to start writing when you already have a title to work with.
When I wrote, “You Know What Really Chaps My Ass?” It started with me getting pissed off about something small. Then I thought “Maybe someone else gets pissed off about the same things.” So I wrote the title down and it sat in my drafts for a few days until I decided that I was in the mood to write about it.
After I write the rough draft, I run a basic grammar check through Grammarly. It’s the free version, I don’t have the money for the professional version. Then I’ll take a walk and come back to it. After I read it that last time I set the tags and SEO options in settings and send it out to my publication of choice.
Are You Open For Collaboration?
Stop.
Collaborate and listen.
Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
I’ve never really thought of collaboration or how it would work in a writing setting. I have collaborated on music before but never through writing. I think of writing as a solitary experience so it’s never really crossed my mind before. I would be open to the idea but it has to be one badass project.
I don’t put my name on shit.
Unless it’s my shit.
Then my name is all over it.
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