Me in Men’s Health
I have a long essay in this month’s Men’s Health, the one with Jamie Foxx on the cover. It’s not specifically about The Nines, but that’s the main reason I agreed to do it. To buy a single-page ad in the magazine would be more than our entire marketing budget. But for a four-page article, they actually pay me.1
The piece I wrote, “My Glorious Defeat,” is about television, student government, and winter driving:
My D.C. debacle, as miserable as it was to live through, has become a cherished memory. It’s a small scar that invites a big story, with big personalities. At first, I framed myself as the innocent victim in the drama, but over the years I came to view the whole thing as more of a hurricane that we all weathered together.
The great thing about surviving a storm is that you’re much better prepared the next time the winds start kicking up. You recognize the early warnings. You stock up on essentials. And, most crucial, you go in knowing that no matter what happens, you can always rebuild.
Failure makes you ready in ways that success never could.
I’m really happy with the article. It feels kind of commencement-addressy, not unlike the talk on professionalism I gave at Trinity last year.
There’s an online version, though I’m not crazy about the reformatting. If you have any inclination, pick up the print edition. As a bonus, you’ll also get 10 secrets to better abs.
- Why Men’s Health, and not Esquire or GQ? MH [vastly outsells](http://www.magazine.org/circulation/circulation_trends_and_magazine_handbook/22175.cfm) them. It outsells Entertainment Weekly. (Hi, Whitney!) Plus, it has a very good chance of hitting the “people who think Ryan Reynolds is awesome” demographic. ↩
Articles
August 16th, 2007 at 9:26 am
I can’t say I have ever read the magazine, but now I have a reason to. If I can get your essay and a 6 pack for the low price of $5.95, count me in!
August 16th, 2007 at 10:12 am
On an unrelated note: I just found out, from an unassailable source, that since 1968 (when the ratings system was put in place) until this year, 61 percent of all films rated by the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. have been rated R! Who would have thought? So, to misuse statistics, there was a 61 percent chance that The Nines would have been rated R.
Do you question my source? See it for yourself, on page 9 of this court opinion:
[broken URL]
click on BOARD’S DECISION SUSTAINED
August 16th, 2007 at 10:52 am
I’m not usually much for inspirational writing but that article left me feeling pretty good. Thanks.
August 16th, 2007 at 11:23 am
I got Men’s Health yesterday, saw you in it, and thought, “What the hell is John August doing in Men’s Health?!” But then I thought, “You know what? MORE screenwriters should show up in magazines that people wouldn’t expect them to show up in!” Steve Zallian in Cat Fancy or Susannah Grant in Guns and Ammo or Shane Black in Martha Stewart Living. That’s some good readin’!
By the way, The Nines showed up on Towerload today. Can’t buy that kind of publicity….
August 16th, 2007 at 11:28 am
I just wanted to relay the fact that the first 9 minutes of The Nines is on iFilm: http://www.ifilm.com/video/2884945
Two thoughts:
August 16th, 2007 at 11:46 am
That was simply awesome. John August and his buttery goodness can not do any wrong.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Coincidentally, I did my drivers license test today and didn’t pass, so I could really relate to the feeling of failure. The article was really inspiring and made me feel better, so thanks John!
I also liked how you tied the beginning and end together, nice touch.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Great article. When I see successful people like yourself I often forget that they probably had some hardship and disappointments along the way. It’s nice to remember that even people who possess a lot of talent and have accomplished a lot in their chosen fields aren’t always at the top of their game.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
Strengthening article. :-)
August 16th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
I’m another college classmate, and I follow what you do. (Hey, fellow dead rhetorician makes good.) So I read the online article, and … do you know how weird it is to get news on long-lost study buddies via Men’s Health and Google? I knew who you must’ve meant, and did my own research. It is surprising to me. Startling. Disconcerting.
The MH article is a wonderful essay, regardless of my vague connection to the author and characters. It’s hard to talk about failure as an asset, particularly if you’ve been brought up with the midwestern ethic. This one’s a keeper, to be reread periodically as a reminder of the important stuff. Thanks for being smart, thoughtful, and dang articulate.
August 16th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Tim W #5 Thanks for posting that link. I just finished watching the snippet, I am hooked. By the way, John, the scene in the bedroom, was that a little homage to Stephen King’s, Misery? Are you Stephen King’s “#1 Fan?”
August 16th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
That was a great article. It reminded me of my favorite Mark Twain quotation – Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
August 16th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
MEN’S HEALTH OUTSELLS EW?????
Is it because of my sorry little abs?
August 17th, 2007 at 4:11 am
You’re one smart cookie.
And I will buy this magazine… I like muscles.
August 17th, 2007 at 8:42 am
1st post from me, but I just have to say, excellent essay! Very encouraging and, in many ways, timely for me. :)
August 17th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
They left out ‘Big Fish’ in your diagram of work in the article. Do you know why, John?
August 17th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Jay D (#16):
I think they were just trying to create a clean flow, and that’s why they dropped Big Fish.
“Heather” (#13):
Sorry to say. I blame Dalton Ross.
Annabel (#12):
Great quote. That’s what I usually say to explain my tattoo: in life, my regrets are generally what I didn’t do.
J. Carter (#10):
The way they edited it, the logic on “Tom” doesn’t quite track. But he’s meant as an analogy more than a real person, so it doesn’t matter much for most readers.
August 19th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Love the essay but why did you flip gender and sexual orientation? If I read the article and was not familiar with you or your work (no idea about the demo for Men’s Health) I would certainly assume you were heterosexual.
And why is Sara Taylor a man all of the sudden? Hopefully you were talking about another Drake University graduate in the headlines because that’s just way too easy to put together.
August 19th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
Tom (#18):
I didn’t flop sexual orientations in the article. I had a girlfriend in college. I don’t know Sara Taylor.
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Great article, John, very helpful. Okay if I post it at our site to inspire our screenwriters as they prepare for fall submissions?
August 30th, 2007 at 10:52 am
Damn; This Site is quirky contagious. I sleuthed here after stepping over sebastionic skeleton bones looking for the fishing conscious. No negro magicians here but quite a bit of healthy writing discourse. Every minute I am here I am off the prairie page of my j. b. sequel to O. M. G., H.’s B. novel. John August, the shrewd businessman speaks in kind and delivers the ‘Nines’ find. The Fox-fire here is not causing my decaying wood to glow HOWEVER. To the nines frontier. Sidney/SydrycalWorks
August 30th, 2007 at 10:54 am
And back again
August 30th, 2007 at 10:59 am
It is 1:57 in North Carolina. When and where will the nines show its countenance here?