Frustration and the Pursuit of Writing – 72 of 90

The whole 90-in-90 concept was Brad’s idea. Yet for some reason, I was foolish enough to think it wouldn’t be that bad. A lot of days, these posts can just flow out; you get inspired by a topic and just let your fingers flow.

I should have known better that he wouldn’t put himself in a situation that wouldn’t challenge him.

The idea of writing 90 posts in 90 days about, hopefully, differing and interesting topics. (For better or worse, my readership is nowhere near by predecessor, so I guess I don’t have the same audience to “let down.”) And eventually, you almost feel like you’ve run out of things to say.

One way or the other, I will get 90 post done in the near future. I can’t guarantee I’ll make the 90-day deadline, as it would require two posts per day from this point forward, and I know my weekend may not make that feasible. But I will complete this by the end of the internship at the worst.

Being at ESPN has made me think a lot about my future as a writer. I’ve become aware that my easiest future would be in editing, at least that’s the impression I’ve gotten from people “in the know.” (I mean, hey, I’m competing for one of like four jobs in all of journalism. Can’t be that hard, right? Sigh … my industry isn’t dying, it’s evolving. My industry isn’t dying, it’s evolving.)

I guess the one thing that I would be disappointed by, if I was to take an editing job at a large publication, is the reduced opportunity there would be to be a writer. I can’t say I know exactly what my peers at the copy desk do, but I don’t know if many of them do much writing at this point. Am I content with the remainder of my voice being spent on my little blog?

I know that I’m not as good of a writer as I should be or want to be. (I did receive a compliment from one of my professors about my writing this week, though, which was a nice little ego boost.) I still have a ways to go (and will probably always have a ways to go in my development), but I don’t know if I would be fully happy as just an editor for the rest of my life.

I don’t know what exactly that means, but I guess it’s something I at least want to consider as I look forward to my professional future.

(A 90-in-90 post about the 90-in-90 challenge. Meta, eh?)