My Journalism Adventures

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Laura Hayes' email subjects are better than anyone else's in the world.

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#blog #plan #blogging #acappella #lunch #multitasking #makingmoves #PRWriting #sopumped #RITJourno

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Where I wish I could be today... #RIT #eightbeatmeasure #ICCA #semis #rutgers

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Tumblr: Take Two

I'm trying this again.

Lately I've been finding that there are a lot of things I'd like to talk about but I haven't known exactly where it would be appropriate to let my voice be heard. Twitter doesn't let me use enough words, my Facebook friends won't read long posts, and writing my thoughts down just for myself doesn't seem like it'll start much conversation. And that's exactly what I want to do, start conversation.

I want to be able to have discussions with other thinkers about humanity, education, justice, truth, imagination, hope, loss, love, life and any other thought provoking topic. I love enthusiasm, encourage random tangents and promote open-mindedness. I would love it if people read and were engaged by this blog in the future, but if not, then what's the harm in writing down my thoughts?

This particular post is going to be short because I have other work to attend to, but I'm using this post as a beginning. This is my promise to myself, if to no one else, that I'll keep writing. I'll write about things that are important to me and if anyone has anything constructive to add or to argue I would gladly welcome intelligent discussion.

'Til next time :)

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Re-interviewing

I'm thinking of interviewing a group of my central characters for a second time.  If I can get them all together I'd like to pay special attention to how they interact with each other.  

I think that a major part of my piece is showing the dynamics of the group.  If I can clearly relay the character of Eight Beat and their goals and motivators I'll consider it a job well done.

With all of that said, I need to remember that this isn't a promo piece- it's a profile.  I need to show who they are without saying "gee theses guys are the best!" Because they aren't.  No offense.  I love them, but every group has it's pros and cons.  So hopefully my article will be super great and show both sides!!!

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It's all in the details

After reading through my article for the zillionth time, I realized that it was lacking.  I had all sorts of great topics and ideas and things, but not a ton of details.  So now I'm hunting.  I'm going back through all of my notes and going over interviews again in my head to find those little details that will make my piece pop.  

Once I find the details and little quirky things that I like, I'll have to make sure they fit into my article without being awkward.  There's no sense putting them in if it'll just ruin the flow that I hard to struggle to get.  

I have a lot of work to do still! But there's time and It's come a long way since the last rewrite!!! :)

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Staying unbiased

It is pretty tough to stay unbiased.  The more I learn about this particular group of guys the more unpleasant things I find.  They aren't the most gallant young men...

I have to remember, though, that I'm not writing this paper to be their friend.  I'm only in this for the story.  Sure, I'll be nice and polite and chat with them, but I'll do it to get more information, to dig deeper, to learn more about them.  I will work though the remainder of the project remembering that I am first and foremost a journalist looking for a story.

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Finding new sources

I want to find sources that are new.  Ones that might not be obvious.  I've been trying to go at this story from different angles, but I'm still working to trying to find a fresh way to approach it.  Reading the same old thing that everyone else writes is boring so what's the use of writing like that?

Thinking outside of the box isn't something I though I would have to do in journalism, but I was crazy wrong.  I need more creativity in writing than I would need to write a novel.  I can't just take the easy way out and call on my imagination, I have to dig and find information that's already out there. So the search continues...

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Write, write, and rewrite

The first 200 words have been more challenging than I expected.  I've rewritten and rearranged it quite a few times already, but it still isn't quite right.  It isn't something I really want to leave and change later because the first 200 words or so are probably the most important words of the entire piece.  I'll just keep working on it...

I'm thinking of it this way- the more times I rewrite it and find out what doesn't work, the closer I am to the final product.  With a little optimism and a lot of patience for polishing it over and over, I'll get there.  

That's enough pondering.  I'm off to rewrite some more!

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**Interviews...!

With a little creativity and some.. friendly and frequent reminders I'm about to rope in my third interview for my Eight Beat Measure piece! I don't even feel bad about hounding my sources anymore, I need them to talk to me and they will if I make it happen.  

I really remember how much I love journalism when I interview sources.  My curiosity takes over and I lose track of time (which isn't super helpful when I have to be somewhere).  I've always loved asking questions so interviewing is more like a conversation for me- I feel like it comes naturally.

Now, that's not to say I don't get nervous, because I do.  Every single time.  But once I start talking (but mostly listening) I start to relax and I slip right into that journalist mindset.  

Before every interview I write this on my wrist.  

Be calm.  

Be confident.  

Be curious.

Be challenging.

I came up with it during a journalism class I took last spring with an amazing teacher, Sebby Wilson Jacobson.  She really pushed me while I was writing an investigative piece on marijuana at RIT to build my interviewing skills and tactics.  I take my interviews seriously, but I can't help the fact that I sincerely enjoy them.  I won't babble too much about that, but this is really the job for me.  

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Interviews...?

Scheduling is rough.  My sources and I haven't been free at the same times and I'm beginning to worry.  Obviously I'll get them all in eventually but I need those interviews soon if I'm going to meet deadlines.

What I need to learn out of this is how to balance this article, which is going to be for a grade and is also otherwise important to me, with my other class assignments and my clubs.  I'll have to make my schedule more flexible if I'm going to match up with my equally busy sources. 

I'll get everything done.  I will not miss a single deadline from here on out.  It's not just a goal, it's going to be a fact.  It has to be if I'm at all serious about journalism. 

So.  I'll have to be creative in order to get my interviews done thoroughly and on time, but it'll happen.  Maybe this will help me to think of different sources that are just as helpful, but perhaps match up with my schedule a little bit better at the moment.  Wish me luck...!

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The Practice

Tuesday night I sat in on the first hour of an Eight Beat rehearsal and I have to say I was pretty impressed.  What I was most impressed about was their focus and professionalism (or, as close as a roomful of college boys can get at the end of the day) during practice.  They were all attentive and cooperative and  not disruptive at all.

Now, I know it must seem like I expected a roomful of middle school kids and I guess in a way I almost did.  The girls I sing with are never that quiet and our ADD levels are way to high to start on time or, heaven forbid, not talk after each and every song.  It really stuck with me that these young men were there to sing and excel at singing and nothing else.  

 Now that I've really chiseled away at my angle I'm starting to get some background facts about the group and the culture of a cappella as a whole so that I don't walk into my interviews blind.  I'm really looking forward to making this happen.  I can't imagine a better topic to cover than music!

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Step 1

I just reached out to Eight Beat!  Three cheers for social media!  I'm already starting to get responses, so once I sort out the goofy ones from the substantial ones I'll get the ball rolling.  I'm a little nervous about how this will turn out, but I think that as long as I stay professional and aggressive I can get a really great scoop out of this.  I'm planning on using all kinds of contacts and maybe keeping a running list in my pocket, just to make sure I can get every angle clearly before I finalize everything.

I'm approaching this article a bit differently than previous ones.  I've been studying up on writing, mostly though Rolling Stone, by keeping a list of my favorite articles, writers, and stylistic quirks.  Let's hope that all of my lists are starting to pay off and I can look at my piece like I look at the pieces I admire.

Let the discovery begin!

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Well, here goes nothing...

This is my first ever blog, so bear with me.  I'll be writing about my writing, funnily enough, and hopefully I'll be writing about what I love.  What I love is music (among other things).  Eventually I'd love to writing for Rolling Stone, but I'm working up to that.  For now I'm writing for various journalism classes at Rochester Institute of Technology and loving every minute of it that I'm not stressing out.  

My current project, and the reason this blog is coming into existence, is my quarter-long article assignment for Newswriting II.  I'll be delving into the world of competitive collegiate a cappella for this piece, focusing on RIT's own Eight Beat Measure.  I would have written about my own group, Encore, but I figured that would be exactly fair... I have a lot ahead of me, but I'm ecstatic to start interviewing and researching and such! 

Wish me luck :)