So now I'm a journalist.
Yep, now I'm gainfully employed. As I'm writing this, I've been a staff writer for a couple of weeks. I've been taking photos, interviewing people, transcribing the recordings of those interviews because my handwriting is too slow for reliable note-taking, putting together stories, sending those stories to editors, and getting those stories back with many, many revision notes. Oh, and then at some point those edited stories get published. So it differs from my normal sci-fi writing on four levels:
- I am taking photos;
- I am not making things up--really;
- I am no longer using Oxford commas (because AP style);
- I am getting published and paid on a regular basis.
This does mean, though, that as I have been learning the ropes and covering some breaking news, I do not have a library card yet. Hopefully I will do that soon and then can read some new books, but until that point I haven't had much time to come up with any poignant reflections on the craft of writing.
But I can tell you for certain that writing and photography--and probably all creative arts in general--share a common trait:
The first attempt always sucks. After that, who knows?
