Progress Thus Far

Today I've got one short story about an art display that was recently put up in an office building here at SLAC. The photographs are aerial views of beautifully colored salt marshes in the near-bye bay. Check them out if you have the time.

It recently occurred to me that I am now more than half-way done with my internship here at SLAC. Partly because of this, and partly because the professor overseeing this project asked, I'm going to take a look back at where I am compared to where I started.

First, I've learned that no story is too small to make a difference to somebody. Some of the most complimented pieces I've written haven't been about cutting-edge science or amazing experiments. Instead, I get feedback on profiles and human interest pieces. Sometimes writing these types of articles gets monotonous, but praise from the SLAC community helps a lot.

I've learned to tighten my writing style. I now pay more attention to passive verbs and I try to get the point across in fewer words. The use of a solid topic sentence in every paragraph and making sure a complete nut graph appears have also helped a lot.

I've definitely learned to handle heavy editing and constructive criticism. Several stories have been handed back to me with a "this sucks, fix it!" But of course in a much nicer and more diplomatic way along with suggestions on how best to go about rewriting it. And I know not to take it personally, because usually the second draft is much closer to being publishable with few edits.

I definantly now have no hang-ups about nearly stalking people to get an interview.

My interviewing skills are also getting better. I've learned to go in with several questions that I know need to be answered. And I'm getting more comfortable digging deeper and asking spin-off questions when something doesn't quite make sense to me or I sense an interesting answer nearby.

But some things haven't changed. I still rarely use any form of prewriting like an outline. I basically come up with leads and flows in my head before putting them on paper. OK, well, the computer screen. Maybe because of this I still write too quickly occasionally, which might contribute to the several stories that come back with heavy edits. Hopefully the next lesson I learn is to produce excellent work in rough drafts by taking more time to ensure they're decent.