Jay Busbee is very well known in the sports writing industry but also receives some recognition for his comic books. Busbee was born in Lynchburg, Virginia but was raised in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from the College of William & Mary’s English program and is a 1996 graduate of the University of Memphis’s Creative Writing MFA program.

Busbee wrote sports columns for his high school paper and in college realized that writing in general was his future and career path.

“In college, I wrote some investigative pieces and some ridiculous humor columns for my paper there, and decided that if I could get paid for that kind of silliness, I’d be set.” Busbee said.

Like most writers Busbee did not only write for sports but any writing he could get his hands on to become a better writer in general.

“It took a few years of dull-but-paying business writing for me to make the leap into sports full time, but I’ve never regretted it for a second.” Busbee said.

Busbee was very fortunate and actually met his idol growing up, serving as great motivation and a boost to his career.

“In college, I met PJ O’Rourke, who was a writer for Rolling Stone at the time. I idolized him and the magazine, and getting to see him in one of his native habitats–a bar–was a revelation.”

Busbee seeks motivation from his competition and enjoys working in a friendly business where he can spend time with some rival sports writers.

“Every single event I’m at, I have the good fortune to hang with friends in the business who are also, in a way, rivals, and being around them always serves to inspire and motivate me.” Busbee said.

Jay Busbee has had his story appearances from USA today to ESPN but does not pride himself on them.

“I’m far prouder of my work on Yahoo Sports!” Busbee said, “In all seriousness, I enjoy the moments when I get a story exactly right. And that lasts for about a week or so, before I go back and reread it and realize all the elements I’ve missed.” Even a professional learns from his mistakes and uses them to get better.

Technology has been a big impact on the journalism world and has made many changes in recent years.”Technology  makes my job possible, I can write something in the next five minutes and have it reach hundreds of thousands of people within 10. But by the same token, that means you have to be very careful about getting the story right and not embarrassing  yourself or your publication.”

In conclusion to my interview I sought some advice and wisdom from  Mr. Busbee in the journalism world.

“Write, write, and write some more. This is the absolute best time in history to be a writer;” Busbee said, “Don’t worry if it’s not any good, because to start, it won’t be. But being bad, for a long long time, is the only way to get better. Look for stories everywhere. Then write those stories in the style of your favorite writers. Write about both pro sports and high school sports. Write about a tee ball game as if it were Game 7 of the World Series.

“But most of all: remember, this is supposed to be fun. Enjoy yourself, surround yourself with people who are headed the same direction or want you to head in that direction, put in the work, and you’ll be amazed at how things will break your way.”