Can We Say, "Fail by Halloween?"

Writing is hard.
Ah, there is that passive verb again... is.  And again!  Writing is. There is.
Okay, so I am going to turn off my inner censor. There. That's better ...

"This book is gonna suck," I said to myself after a few weeks of pondering and struggling with a book I started writing. I foresaw the book I intended. It would find home on the bottom shelf.

But, I get this itch, and it never goes away. I needed this book in the last 1980s, early '90s. I couldn't figure out how to start, how to write it, the tone, the words, the voice, the ... and that lack of focus leads to boring, blah books.

"A journalism degree is valuable no matter what other education you pursue in the future because all employers want people who can communicate effectively," said Marianne Odom, media communications department chair at San Antonio College. Wise words said with a twinkle in her eye. So, I changed my major from business to journalism in the summer of 2011.

Can we say, "Fail by Halloween?" The business classes felt rather easy and convinced me I could carry a full load. I signed up for 13 credits in the "J school" and got my behind kicked. I felt like an engineering student using the alphabet instead of algebra. A student editor shredded my first story. Rewritten, the professor shredded my first story again. It went through five rewrites before it went to press in the paper on campus.

In constant deadline panic, I grew. It felt weird knowing my homework lived in the public's reach. Tens of thousands of copies sorted out to campuses across San Antonio got the attention of faculty, students, TV stations and local four-year schools. he vulnerability created a fearlessness. Picking up the phone, knocking on doors, asking questions on sidewalks - these prerequisites worked into my daily life.

I stumbled into some amazing people by just asking. Common folks who turned out to be amazing citizens and quiet fighters excited me the most. I love telling their stories. In fact, I completed the program as Distinguished Graduate for Journalism and a member of Phi Theta Kappa. Graduation Day in May 2014 felt incredible. Family in the bleachers made it even better.

The action required to photograph, document, verify twice, report, and edit for a weekly print newspaper with a daily website gave me as much joy as the aha moments of the classes and people themselves. I loved seeing the newspapers line up along the bulletin boards as we polished off another issue. We did good work. Our team won several awards.

Still, writing is hard.

Thanks for reading.

Next: Getting ready to create a book.