Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in. ~ Leonard Cohen
One thing that I have never claimed to be is a journalist, although I've been told I have to stop saying that I'm not one. My writing before July 28, 2015, was of a creative or educational nature, things I wrote for enjoyment (my own or anyone else's is up for debate) or for work as a teacher. This Thursday marks my one year anniversary with the Banner-News as a reporter/writer/columnist. Hard to believe.
In writing articles for the paper, I have made mistakes. Two things that I’ve learned from that are: 1) Never, ever listen to what anyone says about anyone else, and 2) Always, always, always ask the person to whom you are speaking to SPELL everything you can’t be 100 percent sure about when they say it (or don’t say it). Everything. Then ask them to repeat that spelling. I dislike making mistakes but it bothers me to no end when that mistake is made at what I consider to be someone else’s expense, whether they consider it a big deal or not. There. Today's rant out of the way.
Most professionals will tell you that it's their job to make their job look easy. I had the privilege of being able to fool people in that way for over 20 years in my teaching jobs. There is nothing--nothing--easy about teaching a child to play a stringed instrument, especially when said child is one of 20-40 in a classroom, each of them more fidgety than the other. When I managed to get five or six rooms full of them to come together for concerts, most parents thought I was a genius (negatory, according to IQ tests). That was the result of a lot of patience, focus, and repetition. I haven't worked in many other professions, but I suspect it's that way in most.
For some reason, people seem to think that writing is easy just because someone will reply that they enjoy it when asked (as I do). One of my favorite quotes about writing is from author Thomas Mann: "A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." If you've spent any time looking at Facebook posts, I think you know what that means.
It's amazing to me how hastily otherwise intelligent people post things on social media that are downright unintelligible. One I know in particular uses Siri's services--the little microphone function on iPhones--to record posts for Facebook but then doesn't bother to go back to correct punctuation, misspellings, or grammar, just hits POST and puts it out there, reading like alphabet soup. (This is someone who lives hundreds of miles away so it's likely not you, Gentle Reader.) Obviously, that person doesn't write for a living. A writer couldn't bear that, even though--or maybe especially because--it's easily done.
A common misconception about feature articles, I think, is that an interviewer has a talk with someone and then immediately and somewhat automatically types up an article from what they said. It's not that simple for me, despite the fact that I have recorded nearly every interview and try faithfully to use quotes that I think readers will enjoy (except for two appointments when I forgot my recorder--you know who you are, and I'm still sorry about that). I try my best to make people feel like we ARE just having a conversation, and hopefully that makes them more comfortable. I tend to relate to what they're saying and sometimes throw in my two cents' worth, which I'm well aware is not good journalistic interviewing form. But it sure makes for some fun sometimes. Afterward, however, there is the task of unknotting a person's story, which is never told in a seamless, chronological line. If that ever happens, I'll be astonished. And probably bored.
Another of my favorite quotes about writing is from author E.L. Doctorow, who said, "Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."
That is what it's like for me, attending meetings and writing about what happens in them, such as for the hospital board, the street committee, the SAU board. People who've worked for years in the newspaper business brush meetings off as ho-hum, yeah-that's-easy kinds of things. Not so for me--it's difficult for me to condense what is said, decide which quotes to use, etc. I don't think anyone dreads seeing me show up for their meetings yet, and let's hope it stays that way. I do try my best.
Other folks may keep up with their appointments/assignments by keeping a calendar in their pocket or working the calendar on their iPhone or 'droid. I got in the habit of using spreadsheets for everything when I was teaching, so that's the easiest thing for me to continue to use. When I'm planning to go to a meeting or to interview someone, I record it on the spreadsheet with the day/date/time, meeting/person's name, purpose for going, a phone number and/or address. At the far right end of that row I fill in a red square to give myself another visual reminder that that needs attending. After the meeting/interview, I put an X in the square but leave it red to remind myself that that needs writing. When it's written, I change the color to green so I know it's ready for the editor to run when needed. After it runs in the paper, I take the color away. X marks the spot where something got completely done, put in ink, and sent out into the world.
I started writing this because I had a happy little thought just after lunch the other day that went like this in my head: "I filled in a green square today!" My next thought was: "If I said that to any other human on the planet, that would need some explaining, now, wouldn't it?"
None of us are perfect, but it's nice to give a piece of our work the green light when we can. If you enjoy the features I write, help me out: Send me names and numbers of people you admire and find interesting that you would like to read more about. And let me know specifics about them, as many as you can. My e-mail address is [email protected].