by rowdyrodimus » Sat Nov 21, 2015 12:35 pm
Sorry to bring an old topic up again but something William said about walking out of school and learning more by playing with older/more experienced musicians makes me think of my experience like it. Even with my writing style in forums, believe it or not, I am a very good writer (based on grades/professor's comments). However, I learned more about creative writing, finances, and all the other stuff colleges are supposed to teach you from riding in cars with people who are not generally looked at as being very intelligent- Professional Wrestlers.
I was never a "name" or star, I just did local independent shows in the South and Southwest US. Really, I was part of the last generation who did it the "Old School" way. Going from show to show from town to town and state to state, two or three guys with our gear stuffed in my 1982 Mercury Capri or another guy's Ford Taurus. During those few short years, I drove tens of thousands of miles, usually with one or two former 70's and 80's stars of WWF, NWA/WCW, AWA and other organizations. One of the reasons William's comment hit so close to home with me is one of the true HUGE names I drove with and picked his brain was Nick Bockwinkle, who sadly passed away earlier this week.
The education I got from those legends (legends to wrestling fans, sadly unknown to most non fans) is something you can't buy. Each person had a different way to do things but each separate method could be fused with another method, taking a bit here and a bit there, they were teachers on those car rides. With Mr. Bockwinkle I learned the more you rant, rave and scream at the top of your lungs, the more the people expect the next time. If you start out just explaining your points, talking in a natural speaking voice, you can then build up the passion and hatred/ranting as the story progresses to hook the audience. (Of which you, as in your character, have to believe "yourself" or the fans can see through it. Even as a heel, you have to believe that by cheating, your actions are justified in the bigger picture.) The same thing in writing. You don't want to start off with the most exciting part of the story and then write the rest of the story with the protagonist doing nothing but filing reports on the incident. It sounds simple but so many teachers in every level of education are guilty of not explaining that to their students.
I learned more about budgeting and finances in general from 300 lb. guys covered in scars explaining how they made a $25 payout last a week by sharing a room with five other guys and buying a 5 lb. bologna and two loaves of bread. I know it sounds stupid, but before that, I and the other guys I normally rode with thought we needed to always get take out and stay MAYBE two to a room (or stay the night with a rat but that was just a bonus lol). We actually started to make some money instead of feeling like we were literally paying our dues by spending more for our road trips than we made doing the shows. Sure I had learned about budgets but I had never been taught how to "budget my budget" (For the life of me I can't remember who it was that used that phrase but I have always remembered it because while it sounds stupid, it makes a lot of sense in the context it was used.) so I actually had money left at the end of the trip.
What it comes down to is these are some of the reasons I hate when people just spout off what they have learned in high school or college. Sure, you need to learn things in school but you REALLY need to learn to apply them in the real world. That is one thing that is sadly missing from all of our systems of education, which also goes back to another comment on either this or another thread I read about needing experience to get a job but only being able to get experience by having said job. It seems our entire educational system is built to form a giant Catch-22 where we are burdened with huge college loans that we can't pay for because we can't get a job because they want real world experience and not just college textbook experience. (sorry, I've been up with my back killing me, keeping me from sleeping, for almost 2 days straight and have spent the last 7 or 8 hours checking out threads here so they are running together lol)