The First Blog!

It's very exciting to be creating my own blog site. I have always thought about it but never knew how to get started. The newswriting class I am in here at the University has given me the ability to start one for the class, which I will be able to use from this point forward. On the topic of my newswriting class, I have had some struggles and some success. Writing a news worthy story that is both interesting to the reader and at the same time factual and to the point is a challenge in itself, nevermind coming up with an actual topic to write about. Going out and talking with people who I do not know is both exciting and nerve racking. I am a fairly confident speaker and consider myself a good listener, however in order to speak well I must be confident with the material being discussed. I found this out the hard way during an attempt to interview a small clothing boutique manager. As I went to approach the manager and speak with him, I became anxious and felt unprepared. Discouraged I simply browsed around the shop and left without any material. Thankfully after speaking with my professor Andrew Marsters he encouraged me to set up a meeting with the manager prior to visiting the store, as well as to write down my questions and even a mock story of what I would later write. Doing this has aided me in the interview process and given me more self confidence. Newswriting is certaintly much harder than I had originally expected. This past week I took on the task of writing a short 500 word story on families around my hometown with children in the military. This story was different than my previous ones which were more focused on the economy and the election. I look towards the new york times online for guidance with my stories.