deadline.

i’m on deadline.

i have sat on every flat surface in this bedroom – which consists of floor, bed & a single chair. i can’t seem to get comfortable, i can’t focus.

six o’clock is fast approaching and what do i do? Put aside the fighting words of the GOP and the DNC and open a clean word document to type my own words.

i update twitter, refresh facebook every 20 minutes, check my e-mail and organize my itunes.
oh yes, i am on deadline and it shows.
i sit on the bed, move to the floor, perch on the desk – no position seems to work. I look at the clock: 2 hours til deadline and only about 200 words short.
time to focus, clean it up and get it sent.

music to focus?
well, I tried.
but sometimes when you put your music on “shuffle” the first song it picks is “the girl all the bad guys want” (by bowling for soup song <- a band from texas). there’s nothing like going from discussing health care reform to a song reminding you of your childhood.

journalism is an interesting profession.
there are times when you write a story that you really aren’t interested in but is important to write. there’s no drive, no desire to finish the product because you can barely begin it. what does that mean for me?
it means i have to take an essential story and make it interesting.
it means i sit and stare at my computer and think “why is this important?”
and sometimes all i can think – “it just is.”
which is not a good enough answer.
i ask again, “why is this important? why should anyone care?”

a difficult task.
you have to remove bias, repetition, wordiness, speculation and other items that tend to sneak into stories. you have to check facts, check quotes, check names, check word count, check the spelling of your own name (i’ve actually misspelled my own name before on a story).

i had a friend ask me if i don’t get tired of writing.
well, i’m sure there will be moments when I can’t pick out a word, my hands are cramping from gripping a pen and i don’t want to interview a stranger. but it’s what i do.
it’s like asking a doctor if he gets tired of surgery. let’s hope he doesn’t or his work would become sloppy and then all the people who trusted in him would be let down.
all i can do is try, hope, to never let anyone down.

read. reread. rewrite. read again. read outloud. rewrite. done. email to teachers and hope they appreciate what i've scratched out for them today.