Sports in Writing

by Adam Huddleston

With football season in full force (Go Cowboys), the topic of sports is on the majority of American minds. For the writer, there may be instances when you include sports in your work. Whether you are writing fiction, blogging, or reporting, there are a few rules that need to be adhered to:

1. Make sure you know your sport! This may sound like a no-brainer, but nothing will turn away a sports reader faster than referring to runs in baseball as points or referring to Wrigley Field as Wrigley Stadium. Unless you are creating a brand new game, have a firm understanding of the rules and scoring system.
2. Use plenty of vibrant action verbs and try to avoid repeating them. “Joe Bob ran” will only work for so long before the reader falls asleep. Strengthen your repertoire and use terms appropriate for the sport.
3. If you are blogging, blog often. Serious sports fans like to keep up-to-date on their favorite teams and players. They look forward to reading about their most recent exploits, not how they lost a game in double-overtime five days ago.

With some study and a little practice, writing about sports can be a lot of fun and very rewarding.