Deadspin Writer Hannah Keyser Talks to Class About Blogging

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- On Monday, Deadspin writer Hannah Keyser dropped by Prof. Jimmy Golen's Sport Writing class to chat about her career and blogging experiences.
     It was a very casual environment. Hannah was an active guest for the first 45 minutes of class, chiming in on the class' talk about advanced baseball statistics and adding insightful comments to our discussion.
     After the first 45 minutes, Prof. Golen led a Q&A session for the next hour and a half with Hannah that gave the class a better idea of her experiences, the creative process of her and at Deadspin as a whole and other interesting tidbits.
     One of the most important things at Deadspin, according to Hannah, is the creation of headlines. Deadspin makes sure that no headlines are strictly click-bait; the headline must tell the entire story. Another key component to a good headline? No questions.
     When asked about how she comes up with ideas for content, Hannah gave a series of answers. Ideas can come from a variety of places: tips, Twitter, Deadspin's team Slack channel, and more. These ideas can go one of two ways. The idea can either become an idea for a short-piece or be looked into further and develop into a longer article. There is no minimum to the amount of articles that need to be written, too. Everyone contributes to both long and short articles, with some doing more than others in either category.
     In addition to talking about the creative processes for content, Hannah talked about her most current favorite project by on of her editors, Tim Marchman. The series of articles, called the "Blight Sox", chronicle the MLB's Chicago White Sox throughout its season. That's it. According to Hannah, there is no punchline, but being that it is on Deadspin, many people, including the White Sox, are trying to figure out what the joke is.

Today I spoke to a class about "how to blog" but honestly, sorry kids, artistry like this cannot be taught. https://t.co/eZNz3F3Vvu

— Hannah Keyser (@HannahRKeyser) April 4, 2017

     As time was winding down and the clock neared 9:30 pm, the end of class, Hannah had shared with us various stories about Deadspin's change of ownership, its unionization, Moneyball and Michael Lewis and more.
     Who knows, maybe one of us will be writing for Deadspin in the future.
     Just remember, no click-bait headlines.