Category Archives: Writing Remarks

Writing Remarks

Friday, 07 June, 2013
15

The Noise In Your Head: A Different Kind of Writer’s Block

#DailyWings: “It’s all right to do things the way you want. There is no map to life, no blueprints to survival, you can create your world day by day if you have a clear vision and an unwillingness to give up.” -John O’Callaghan

The first time I drove a car, I was seven years old. My back was propped up against the seat of an arcade racing game at one of the pizza joints in Boston. My two best friends at the time, twin sisters wearing ponytails and matching choker necklaces, watched and waited eagerly for their turns to play. I clutched the plastic wheel in front of me, eyes fixed on the screen. But the whole time, all I could focus on were my friends’ cheers in the background and the shadow of our mothers hovering above my head. 

I ended up maneuvering around like an old grandma – I was either too fast or too slow, and kept bumping into trees and the vehicles in front of me. After a few moments, my friends looked away, bored with my game. The race ended as all the cars braked to a screeching halt, and two pixelated words showed up on the screen: Game over!
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Thursday, 02 May, 2013
2

Observations of an Editorial Intern: Here’s to Punchy Ledes (& Other Farewell Stories)

#DailyWings: “We live not only in a world of thoughts, but also in a world of things. Words without experience are meaningless.” -Vladimir Nabokov

This post is a part of my blog series, “Observations of an Editorial Intern” (as inspired by the CAFME Summer Intern Diaries). This series focuses on my experiences of interning as a journalism student for a news publication. Any viewpoints expressed on my blog are not reflective of the publication I work for. 

This semester, I completed an editorial internship at The WEEKLY, the town newspaper published by Chapel Hill Magazine.

Last Monday, I wrapped up my last few assignments for The WEEKLY and concluded the spring editorial internship. Walking out of that office for my last time this semester was bittersweet, as the end of most valuable experiences — ones that are both challenging and rewarding — tend to be. 

I like to think of the past — in this case, the “past” few months — as one huge timeline. Placing a finger at any point on the timeline, I remember where I was in the internship process at that point and how much there was still ahead of me. 
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Monday, 01 April, 2013
3

Observations of an Editorial Intern: On Being Deadline-Driven

#DailyWings: “Life is so constructed, that the event does not, cannot, will not, match the expectation.” -Charlotte Brontë, Villette

This post is a part of my blog series, “Observations of an Editorial Intern” (as inspired by the CAFME Summer Intern Diaries). This series focuses on my experiences of interning as a journalism student for a news publication. Any viewpoints expressed on my blog are not reflective of the publication I work for. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

It’s been a while since I updated my blog series for this semester, Observations of an Editorial Intern. Juggling classes, multiple school organizations and an editorial internship has been both a challenge and a rewarding experience. I’ve become much more attentive to news values, email communication, deadlines and interviewing tactics; at the same time, I am still learning new things every week. 

For anyone who is hoping to gain a better sense of a particular field, there is a lot of value in learning from experts — essentially, others who have been working in the industry for much longer. You can ask them about trends they’ve seen over the years, impact on the public and the micro-level details of working in that field on a daily basis. These people can include long-term employees, graduates who have gotten their feet through the door and are navigating the waters, even your mentors or bosses. 

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Monday, 25 March, 2013
3

Call for Submissions: Wander Magazine Wants “Travel Horror Stories” From YOU!

#DailyWings: “I am on the alert for the first signs of spring, to hear the chance note of some arriving bird, or the striped squirrel’s chirp, for his stores must be now nearly exhausted, or see the woodchuck venture out of his winter quarters.”
– Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Earlier today, we were greeted — as if “greet” is the right word — with a flurry of snow. On my way to class, the wind and snow almost knocked me over! Either North Carolina weather is being ridiculous or I need to start eating meat again. What is going on, y’all? I mean, it’s almost April.

Now that we’ve established the peculiarity of April snow, I wanted to share an awesome opportunity with you: Ever wanted to be published in a magazine? 

One of the best things about being a student at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Journalism & Mass Communication is getting involved with various media projects in a professional news setting. This semester, I’m on the staff for Wander travel magazine, a JOMC 456 class project that has just released a call for submissions. My wonderful readers, if you have studied abroad (or currently are), spent a holiday somewhere exotic, conducted research in different parts of the world or engaged in other all-around cool things while traveling, this might interest you:
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Friday, 08 March, 2013
7

What Makes You a Writer

#DailyWings: ““We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive.”-Thich Nhat Hanh

It’s been a while. With newspaper articles, magazine stories, research papers and midterm exams swinging at me like cherry bombs every few days, I’m beginning to understand how a juggler must feel. These days, I’m averaging four hours of sleep and barely have time to eat or take a mental breather. Occasionally, I’ll watch an episode of “My Mad Fat Diary” just to remind myself not to go, well, mad. 

I miss writing. To keep myself content, I have written some poetry. Short pieces, portholes for me to displace my strongest emotions.But I miss prose. I miss long-winded sentences that keep going and going until you aren’t quite sure how you got from Point A to Point B but you know you’re in a different place than you were before you started and it feels like a good thing.

It’s true that I crank out two to four stories every week for the town newspaper, and it’s been an incredible training experience so far. But last night, I cracked open my journal for the first time in a month. One month! I couldn’t believe that it had been that long since I actually sat down to write for myself without worrying about making the sentences perfect. I miss making mistakes and letting them be. I miss writing for the love of it.
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Monday, 04 February, 2013
5

Celebrating My Three-Year Blogaversary, featuring Guest Poster Mia “Awesome” Hayson

#DailyWings: “Whatever you desire is already connected in some way to who you are and what you now have. Find that way, follow the connection.”
-Ralph Marston

I’m incredibly proud to announce that today is the blog’s official Three-Year Blogaversary! *cheer* To those of you who have been with me since the very beginning (yes, I know who you are), THANK YOU. And, of course, thanks to ALL of you for sticking with me, no matter how long! Your comments and encouragement always keep me going. It’s wonderful to know that there are people out there who identify with the things I write, that my musings and observations of daily life resonate. Isn’t a human connection, after all, one of the many things we constantly strive for?

As part of the celebration, I have the lovely Mia Hayson from My Literary Jam and Toast as a guest blogger. HOORAY! Mia is an incredible individual and never fails to make me smile/laugh/feel fuzzy. A writer from Scotland, Mia blogs about the art of writing, delicious novels, fun blogfests and the occasional zombie. Today, she will be talking about the fear of writing.

Let’s talk about gut-wrenching fear for a moment. The last time I was really scared out of my wits was when I watched “The Shining” (1980), a psychological horror movie based on the book by Stephen King, in my film analysis class. I hadn’t heard about it before, and our professor didn’t tell us that it was a scary movie (admittedly, I should have done the research beforehand).

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Monday, 21 January, 2013
4

Observations of an Editorial Intern: A New Weekly Blog Series

#DailyWings: “I’m glad you’re getting a chance to bust your chops on the journalism block.” -an anonymous friend of mine

Introducing a new weekly post series on my blog: “Observations of an Editorial Intern” (as inspired by the CAFME Summer Intern Diaries)! This series focuses on my experiences of interning as a journalism student for a town publication. Any viewpoints expressed on my blog are not reflective of the publication I work for. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

This isn’t reporting class, I thought at my new work station. This is the real thing.

The first day tends to be the most nerve-wrecking. You’re getting used to the work environment, the publication’s style, the pacing. It’s the one day when you really feel like an intern, because everything is so new. 

My “working girl” outfit

Friday was my first full work day at Chapel Hill Magazine’s THE WEEKLY, where I will be serving as an editorial intern for the spring semester. I report on local news and events, take photographs, conduct interviews for profiles, copy edit articles and anything else that needs to be taken care of.
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Thursday, 03 January, 2013
15

Looking Back, Moving Forward: A Year In Review + Fourth Annual No-Kiss Blogfest

#DailyWings: “May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art–write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.” -Neil Gaiman

One of my main new year’s resolutions from 2012 was to meditate every day for a certain amount of time either somewhere on campus or at home, and I’m excited to say that, for the most part, I succeeded. There’s nothing better than lying on the grass in the campus arboretum, your vision cloaked by an entire blanket of blue sky, and letting your mind wander.

There are two ways for me to engage in meditation — one in which I try to rid my mind of all thoughts and cognition, and only allow sensations and feelings to take over the present moment. The other way is to simply not fight any of the thoughts that come to mind, but rather let them come as they “flow.” Both are helpful for me when I want to re-organize my mind (as if it were a sock drawer!), and both are good for long hours of travel.
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Friday, 07 December, 2012
5

50,000 Is Just a Number: NaNoWriMo Wks 3-4

#DailyWings: “The question should be, is it worth trying to do, not can it be done.”
-Allard Lowenstein

Whew! National Novel Writing Month is finally over, my fingers are about to fall off and I can go back to having a real life again. Wonderful. 

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions and dragging plotlines and flying  candy bars. First and foremost, I want to give a very big congratulations to all the NaNoers in Chapel Hill, N.C., and around the country who met their personal goals, whether they were to 5k or 50k or simply write every day. We did it.

For those of you who are curious, I made it to 43,705 words by the stroke of midnight. Unfortunately, I did not reach my goal of 50,000 words, but I was so close! On Nov. 30, the very last day, I wrote more than I ever have before — about 10k in one day. That is crazy.  (The words weren’t exactly fine contributions to the novel, but quantity > quality is the essence of NaNo.) This year’s writing challenge taught me so much about myself and my writing. For one whole month, I showed that I love writing enough to put it above all else, even school work and health — this is no exaggeration, as I was sick during the last week. Still, it was worth every hour spent groveling over word vomit.
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Saturday, 17 November, 2012
5

NaNoWriMo Owns My Soul: Weeks 1-2

#DailyWings: “Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end — if not always in the way we expect.” -Luna Lovegood

The Office of Letters & Light

I used to think seven hours of sleep was a necessity for my brain and body to function, but I have underestimated myself. This month of November, it’s a lucky night when I get five hours of sleep. Sometimes, I’ll pass out at 9 p.m. and then wake up, dizzy and bleary-eyed, at midnight to start working for the next four hours. All thanks to National Novel Writing Month.

Okay, that’s not entirely true. It’s NaNoWriMo, but it’s also my writing classes — including Reporting and Feature Writing — as well as the trillion organizations I’m involved with and The Great Internship Search. What is a college student to do? 

Even with lack of sleep, I’m still behind on my word count. Very, very behind. Like, 10,000 words-behind. We’re supposed to be past the halfway point right now, and here I am still stuck in the first 10k. It’s not that the copy editor in me is trying to take over — although the pesky adverbs and drawn-out descriptions make me shudder once in a while — or that I have writer’s block. In past years, that’s been the case. But this year, it’s something different.  It’s that I’m working on a novel I started four years ago; obviously, my writing style has changed since then.
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