The Interviewing Process

One of the most challenging aspects of taking Writing and Reporting the News I has been the interviewing process.  One of my other journalism professors at the moment is Tom Haines, and he described this class as "Meeting Strangers 101."  I agree with him 100 percent.  The first week of the class we were thrown right into the news writing process, which can at times be a bit frightening, especially if walking up to strangers and proceeding to ask them questions isn't one of your strong suits.  I am a naturally shy individual but have taken advantage of this opportunity to get out of my comfort zone.  In fact, I even feel a bit empowered interviewing someone as a journalist.  I gain courage from this persona.  Although interviewing can be tough for me, I love the writing process, and when I sit down at my laptop it feels like Christmas Day as I giddily pour over all the presents I've received in the form of interview notes.  I relish the chance to piece together the comments of disparate individuals into one coherent piece all tied together through a common theme.  I have found that discovering sense out of the chaos of my notes and piecing together these stories has become my favorite part of the process.  While getting these notes is still a bit of a struggle, I know that this crash course in meeting strangers will be great practice for me and help me immensely in my future endeavors.