There was a time long before I ever wrote an internet blog that I began my writing career. And that was in high school where I became one of the co-editors of my school newspaper, the Erwin Echoes. I’ll have to admit that I was clueless as to what I was getting into but I had had a desire to write from the time I read my first Ray Bradbury book when I was nine years old. But other than having sat in my room and trying to write short stories, I had no experience at all, other than a few poems I’d written. Needless to say, my introduction to journalism was an adventure.
The first day in class we learned the basic rules of journalism, the Five Ws:
- Who did that?
- What happened?
- When did it take place?
- Where did it take place?
- Why did that happen?
And from that point on, it was a hands-on learning experience. As an editor, it was a responsibility to give assignments to the student reporters. Once they had done their duties, they turned in their piece and the three co-editors done their editing. Once we felt that the piece was good and correct we then submitted it to our teacher. And once there were enough pieces to publish a monthly issue, the teacher showed us how to piece the paper together.
A blast from the past, the “Erwin Echoes” editorial team.
For the life of me, I can hardly remember what we reported on. Sure, there was the sports which was the most exciting thing that went on at school, but even that was kind of lame seeing that our teams didn’t have much success. And being an editor, I was required to write an editorial for each edition. But there were strict rules as to the content of an editorial, the main one being that nothing controversial could be the subject. Being at the height of the Vietnam War era, I found it hard to concentrate on pointless, cute opinion pieces. To me, that wasn’t truly learning the profession. Even at that age, I had already began reading all the editorial work in my local newspaper which inspired me to want to do serious work which, much to my chagrin, was turned down by my teacher because I’d crossed the line of controversy. So I wrote pieces about safe driving, not drinking doing community work, as well as the usual cute things about the social life of teenagers. Though mostly important issues, other than the cute stuff, they didn’t speak to the thoughts in my mind as I observed the turmoil of the happenings in the country. But…I had to follow the rules. As it was, journalism was a class I’d signed up for just to get one of the last few credits I needed to graduate, so I went with the flow just to get good grades.
It was only after meeting Lynndee that my writing career really began. Even before we were married, she detected a bit of possibilities in my writing skills just by all the emails I sent her. While in the Philippines, she made her living by writing blogs and initially asked me to become her editor. And later on, she began this blog as a joint effort, and I started writing my own work. Still, it was my early learning of the skills of editing that led to my being here. I would have never dreamt that all those years ago when I took a class just to add a credit to my high school record. And other than being in the band, my journalism class was one of my best high school experiences. So thanks Miss Messer for opening the door for me.
I think it’s so great that you and your wife do this together! You’re an excellent story teller and I love reading articles from the both of you!
I love writing. I find it so enjoyable. It’s one of those things you can do forever and always come back to if need be.
Sometimes we discover we do have a talent just waiting to be tapped. I have always wanted to study journalism, but my father wanted me to take a different major in college. I followed my dad, but kept my passion for writing. It took a back seat for the longest time, but now, I enjoy doing it and reaping success.
My writing career started when I was about 7. That is when I stared my first journal (which I still have!) And at 9 I had my first piece of poetry go to contest and get published in some anthology or something. SO long ago! Since then I have been published in various outlets and genres. It’s been an amazing journey for me.
As a former English teacher, I absolutely love hearing about others’ experiences with writing and literature. I took a few journalism classes in my undergraduate program and absolutely adored them. I constantly wish I would have been a journalist instead of becoming a teacher.
Learn when you can for this may come in handy. I believe in this. It’s so nice that you are doing this together. I wish my husband would co-author my blog.
`This is indeed an inspiring post for anyone to read. It is so true that learning when and where you can can actually lead to bigger better things later in life. Thanks for sharing your story.
I agree with your title wholeheartedly. I love to learn and no matter what stage of the game I am in I know there is always more to learn.
Such an inspiring post. I love it when teachers can really inspire you too. I’ve had some that are like this as well. I wish I would have paid more attention in my writing classes since that’s about all I do now for my blog.
I never took a traditional journalism class, but I was editor of our yearbook my senior year. It was one of my favorite parts of high school.
I love that you guys do this together. Writing is one of my favorite activities. It’s a great way to let it out.
I think it is important to never stop learning new things. I love to write. I find it so relaxing.
I’ve had some basic journalism classes back in college and definitely enjoyed everything and learned so much from too. I totally believe as well that we should never stop learning. xx
I find it amazing that you guys are doing this together. I love writing. I find it to be a good stress-reliever and it’s a lot easier for me to express my feelings on paper.
I would love to write for me, but I can never find the time! Journalism is something I really should have pursued further, I guess there is still time! Thanks for the inspiration
This is very reminiscent of English 30! I swear my teacher used this when she was teaching us how to write properly. I have needed this reminder!
Once a writer, always a writer. Our school never had a paper but I worked on the yearbook my senior year, compiling stories.