About Me

I’m Zachary Arthur and welcome to my site, Write Near Me.

I’m a 28-year-old writer with a relatively simple goal:

To find my writing voice by making this the most honest and transparent writing blog on the internet.

Not too tough, right!? With that I’m hoping to accomplish a couple of things:

  • For you to love what I say.
  • For you to hate what I say.
  • For you to trust that I always want you along for the ride; regardless of what I say.

My honesty will hopefully translate into yours. If we’re able to have that type of relationship, then I think this could turn into a pretty special thing for all of us.

So why care about me or what I have to say? I wish I had some fun and compelling reasons, but the truth is that I don’t. The one fact I can give is that I have a deep fascination for following writers and learning how they develop their voice. I haven’t found anything on the internet that matches exactly what I plan on doing, so that combination made me think of starting this site.

My background is in journalism. I have an undergraduate degree from the University of Utah in Journalism, along with a graduate degree from Harvard University’s Extension Program in Journalism.

I’ve been a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. I was a sports director for a university radio station. I am currently a video editor for Salt Lake City’s CBS affiliate KUTV 2 News.

And I’ve struggled to enjoy any of them.

There is certainly an art to great journalism–and we need it now more than ever–but it’s simply an art that I’ve struggled to find much joy in. The unfortunate part is that I had to finish graduate school in order to fully understand how little I wanted to be finishing graduate school in an area that disinterests me. I have always wanted to do more in writing. To reach for something a little higher and be more creative.

Enter screenwriting.

The SparkNotes version of why I’m making this change is because I grew up with a love for cinema. I’ve had some of my deepest feelings while watching movies or television, and some of them have shaped who I am as a person.

The screenwriting industry is one of the most competitive and cutthroat out there. As such, different people find their way in through unique and interesting ways. I’m hoping mine will be through the world of academia as I will be starting graduate school for screenwriting at UCLA in the fall of 2019.

If you’ve managed to get this far, then I need you to manage to do one more thing.

Write!

If I find my voice then great. But if any of you find yours, then this site has done more than I could have ever imagined. I’ve dedicated an entire section toward featuring your writing, so please email me if you believe that you have something worth reading. There’s a great chance it could end up on here.

Types of writing I’m looking to feature:

  • Screenplays
  • Short Stories
  • Long-form stories
  • Journalism Op-Eds
  • Journalism Reporting
  • Poems
  • Lyrics
  • How-to articles
  • Anything else that hasn’t already been previously said!

Your additions will only help the site reach the level it’s capable of.

Thank you so much for your time and interest. I couldn’t be more excited to be on this journey together.

-Zachary Arthur