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.
All in all, I wrote ten pieces. I didn't do too bad, except for the odd hiccup. Any errors were quickly corrected by Andrew, who explained in a constructive way how it could be amended.
In fact, the only mistakes he pulled me up over were the following. You know when you write a date? Normally I'll do it March the 3rd, 2011. At the St Helens Star, they write it March 3. No year, because generally it's pretty obvious what year the event will be held. Only if this event in March was in 2012 would a year be included. The second error I made was regarding the place name 'St Helens'. Normally I'd write it with a full stop after the 'St'; the same for similar names. St. Helens, St. Aelred's. Note-to-self: kill that particular habit. And, if in doubt, just ask!
I was given a notepad today in which to keep notes for any pieces I might write. The first five pages or so are full of scribblings regarding upcoming articles on The Prince's Trust, Self-Injury Awareness Day (which Anna suggested I do a story on) and a piece I've already drafted about the deplorable condition of Earlestown Station - I'll post this article a bit later. At the back, I've scribbled a list of the stuff I've learned today...
- Keep it simple - not everyone who reads the Star knows what existentialism is! (Yes, I had such a faff today...)
- If in doubt, ASK!
- The system for categorising articles... (so far; I don't think Steve covered them all - what about Sports, Heritage, Culture and the College Corner, for instance? No doubt I'll come across those later)
- FIL - Filler
- NW - News story
- LD - Lead
- CHU - Church
- ENTS - Entertainment
- LET - Letter
- The aforementioned date and place things - how to correctly write them.
- That Bloody Paperclip is still as hateful now as it was ten years ago.
I'll be posting every article I write onto my journal, friends-locked until A) they're published or B) my placement's over so it doesn't matter anyway. Bear in mind that I'm working way out of my comfort zone, so the articles mightn't be of the best quality.
- Music:21st Century Schizoid Man (Incl. Mirrors) - King Crimson
Comments
In retrospect, though, I'm glad I went for it. Opting for a placement in journalism/publishing was a totally last-minute decision, one which I almost didn't make because I see journalism as a fortress that's almost impenetrable to a completely inexperienced eighteen-year-old.
Mind you, if that school of thought were true, there'd be no such thing as a journalist. Hmm. I suppose you just need to attack it from the right angle :)
(No 45° angles allowed, sorry for the inconvenience)
Congrats on your new job, dear! I envy you in some ways. I've been considering reporting, particularly covering local arts/artist news. I think all my local gigs have been snatched up. Right now I write on the arts for a reproduction painting website.
I'm sure your reporting will help your creative writing in ways you hadn't planned, maybe cutting length and ensnaring the reader with just a few words.
Can't wait to read your work!!!! :)
From what I've heard, I just got lucky. I've been talking to a few people over the past few days who've said that the Star is the only newspaper for miles around that will take voluntary journalists on. It doesn't matter how skilled you are or what qualifications you have, apparently; most places just don't want to know.
A lot of the things I've been working on are arts related, it seems. It's got to the point now where the editor comes up to me with a piece on, say, a Beatles tribute band and says 'this is right up your street' :P
'maybe cutting length and ensnaring the reader with just a few words.' - That's what I'm hoping for :D Being concise and opening with a cracking first sentence is definitely one of the simpler, yet fundamental things to good writing.
I've got loads of articles up on the journal already, under the writing: articles: local news tag :) Check it out if you want!