Every single semester I have been taking the classes that I need in order to graduate, and every single semester I have been avoiding writing for my schools paper. One of my friends kept on bugging me to take it with her, but I just couldn't get over my fears of writing. For example, I didn't want to deal with the fear of my peers seeing my grammar mistakes. I was also terrified of accidentally misusing a quote or forgetting how to use the right "there," "their," and "they're" in any sentence. However, that changed this semester since I finally decided that I needed to get over my silly fears of writing. That is why I have these five tips to help other beginners conquer their own fears about writing for their schools newspaper.
1. It is OK if you have never written for a newspaper before.
Before spring semester even started, I was extremely paranoid that everyone else in COMS 368 was going to have prior experience with writing for a Newspaper. Now that I have been in the class for almost two weeks, I have learned that I was not alone. There are going to be those Rory Gilmore's in the class and a lot more people who have no idea what the AP style even is, and or how to not write in first person. Some people in the class are not even communications majors so, in other words, they do not feel lost. That is why I always remind myself to have lots of patience with yourself and others since everyone is learning and practicing a new skill.
2. Do not be worried about the time commitment.
Being in a class that writes a newspaper weekly can be extremely stressful. There are different sections for the paper you can write for, and multiple article topics that you can choose from. For the first couple of weeks I decided that I should be writing for the news section of our newspaper. Sadly, because of the commitment that this class requires my section had two drops already within the first two weeks. However, what you have to remember is that most classes require a certain amount of homework hours outside of class based off of units. It is OK to not follow those hours completely, but it is still necessary to work as hard as you do in class in order to get your work completed.
3. Plan ahead.
My editorial board leader for our newspaper always reminds my group to "start as soon as humanly possible." From Tuesday night on each group usually gets until a certain time on Friday for their first draft to be done in order for it to be edited. Usually, the assistant editor or editorial board leader will edit the first draft and email the comments back to you quickly. Then, by Monday at noon, the articles have to be finished since the newspaper goes out the next day around noon. That is why it is important to pick an article that sounds interesting to write about, and then it is important to get your quotes ASAP. Once you have done everything that you can, all you can do now is wait for the paper to come out.
4. Always be thinking of story ideas.
Thinking about possible story ideas is always fun. It might even be part of your grade, or participation points in the class, to come up with some original story ideas throughout the semester. For COMS 368 it is definitely required of you to come up with original story ideas in order for everyone to gain experience with coming up with story ideas. Keep a note book on hand or write down your ideas in your phone.
5. Share your work and be proud of it.
Writing is definitely a difficult process, and getting an article written on time and legible takes a journey every time. There will be weeks when writing articles can be easy, and other times when you will be writing an article until the very last minute. For example, when I wrote my first article the other week I had to write two drafts, get multiple people to edit my drafts, and I also had to wait for outside quotes. In the end, my article turned out pretty great and looked even better on paper. That is why you should be thankful for the hard work that you turn in every week. Take pictures of your articles, frame them, keep them in a scrapbook, Instagram them, share the link, do whatever you need to in order to be proud of your work.
