Journalism isn’t easy. There’s a lot more that goes into it than just words on a piece of paper.
When I decided I was going to be a communications major, I really did not know what it was going to take to complete this major.
I enjoyed doing the school news every morning in high school and I knew I was good at and usually enjoyed writing, so I thought a major in journalism was what I wanted.
Freshman year of college, most of the clubs I was interested in asked for a writing sample along with the application. That’s when I realized I was a journalism major but I didn’t really know how to write anything except an essay for class or a high school thesis paper.
I knew I was good at writing but I didn’t know how to write for an audience. I didn’t have a blog and I didn’t know how to write for enjoyment.
So that is when I decided to join Odyssey.
I have been a content creator for Odyssey for a little over a year now and it has really opened my eyes to what it takes to write. And let me tell you, writer’s block is real and it sucks.
As an Odyssey creator you are expected to write a piece of content each week - so I can only imagine what the requirements are like for a journalist. While writing one piece of content a week sounds really easy, its quite hard to find something to write about that people will actually want to read. Most weeks I am pretty proud of the content I produced, but there are definitely some weeks that I consider my “throw away” content.
The writing that I am proud of is something that comes from within and something I want to share with my community. I am proud of it because it came from me, not because I had to write it for a deadline. I hate when I write a piece of work just because I need to submit it for a deadline - that's when I feel like it is my throw away work, it's not what I want my work to be. I want to be proud of it. I want it to be something I send to my friends and family and say "hey, look at this amazing piece of writing I did." But that is not always practical.
There are some weeks that I have zero ideas what to write about.
Finding a topic each week to write about is hard. I need something that is relevant. Something my audience will actually click on and read. My ideas need to be original - because if there is one thing college has taught me is that plagiarism is not ok.
Most of all I want to be proud of my work because these writings are going to be published and can be viewed by literally anyone.
And doing that every week isn’t easy.
As a college student writing for Odyssey, my audience is mostly college students. The content that I want to be writing is different than the content that will get me good views and viral pieces.
At the end of the day, I am writing for Odyssey so I can have practice publishing content on a deadline and to have work that I am proud of to show future employers.
But while doing this, I have learned that being a writer, and more specifically a journalist, takes a lot more than just putting words on a piece of paper.
