I'm a fire chaser by nature. I like police logs, boring city council meetings, traffic reports. "Hard" news - and therefore, hard news writing.
I also like video games - and sometimes, I relate to them. I've been relating to a game called "Psychonauts" lately. This game is set in a kid's summer camp - complete with bugs, outhouses, bullies, and wildlife. One of the characters, a Russian child, is obsessed with wrestling bears. He stands on the edge of the dark forest, peering in:
"Have you seen bear lurking in woods, with skin where hair should be? In Russia bears are smaller, and more fur, less lurking... always eager to wrestle." His eyes shift left and right, and his face is infinitely patient as he adds to the forest, "Cannot lurk forever, bear!"
Magazine writing is basically the bear lurking in my forest. I'm not practiced at it. I don't read it. And surprisingly, I am eager to wrestle it. I need practice and feedback before I will feel confident writing this way professionally. I hope that I will learn to combine my hard-news love with a more creative writing style.
I know writing professionally is the most satisfying feeling in the world. I'd get the same satisfaction from features writing. And I've always wondered what bear meat tastes like when it's cooked just right.
So come on, bear, you can't lurk forever. Let's wrestle!
