And there and there

I have finally finished writing two stories for the journal, and I cannot be any more thrilled!

The road to completion, however, was quite an educational experience.

When I was given my beat -- Business -- I knew I was going to be writing about topics I had zero interest in... I was quite frightened when I received my beat, thinking that I wouldn't be able to focus on stories in the business area. Though I am still somewhat hesitant (but excited) for my future stories, the completion of my stories are pumping me up to write more stories!

I learnt a lot from the two articles I've written:
Number one, that I shouldn't be focused so much on my interviews! I know it sounds horrible to say, considering half the objective of a journalist is to interview the public for insight, but I feel that for my articles, I spent too much time talking to people about superfluous things that never made it into my article. Basically, I'm saying that, though the interview is an important aspect of any story, it should be concise, precise and short; otherwise, there is too much information to sift though, and too much information to preoccupy your mind with. For example, my interview with Neil Richardson for my story on the Seventh Avenue Restoration Project was quite informational, but lasted two hours!! These two hours were spent talking about things that could be found in the company's website, and I felt my questions could have been chopped by half.

Number two, I realized that word-length is really important. My second story for print totaled up close to 2,000 words, when the limit was set at 1,000. I felt so afraid that I would not write enough that I ended up writing way too much! For any future story, I'll know to be concise as much as possible and to not repeat myself.

Number three, I found that shortening my article really put perspective on my writing. By shortening it to 1,000 words from 2,000, I taught myself how to discern between what is needed and what can be taken out. This I found most important for any future stories I will be writing. Sometimes it can be hard to take out information, but if the information is superfluous, it needs to be deleted.

Number four, that research is really important but shouldn't be put on a pedestal. It is good to get some background information on a topic you're writing on, but spending too much time on research could lead to an incomplete story.

And last but not least, I realized that perfection is not needed for everything I do. I am such a perfectionist, but I found with writing my two first stories, my perfectionist nature came out too strong. Everything I wrote needed revising right after I had written it, and I was never satisfied. I am glad that I was given the opportunity to realize this point, and now I know I can change it... next time, I will be less perfectionist, and more rationalist. Does that make any sense?

Hopefully I can take these things I've learnt and apply it to my next stories...here goes nothing!