I cannot believe how cold it was today! As an added bonus, it was absolutely piddling it down as I set off for the first day of my work placement. Consequently I arrived soaked through and freezing and dying for a cup of tea.

In the reception of the St Helens Star, I was met by Steve Leary and taken up to the news room - I don't think I can go up on my own as there are security measures that prevent the door from being opened from the outside. I have to wait for someone on the other side to let me through. I suppose this means I'll have to wait for Steve every morning, unless the receptionist gets to know my face and starts to let me through. We'll see. Either way, not a problem.

My first day was enlightening, let me tell you. Newspaper work is nothing like the normal writing that I do. When I work on my novel, or indeed when I write on this blog, it's very loose and all over the place. My blogs often border on the stream-of-consciousness kind of thing, and my novel... well, I don't even know. Stuff happens. I like it to have a natural, unpredictable flow, like life, but with some sense of direction.

Writing for a newspaper, however, is totally different. There are no 120,000 word behemoths here. You have to keep it simple. Most of the things I wrote today were between 100 and 300 words. I had to trim them extensively to remove redundant words. I had to try to be witty - and my wit is generally accidental. I say something smart, then realise afterwards. I had to keep to a strict structure.

( And so the tale of journalism and epicness continues... )