It’s definitely a good start this year. Though I’m almost veering away from news writing, my current job is proving more and more exciting as I can do the things I like and love the most — writing, traveling, and meeting people.
My first-ever assignment this year was to write a post-event blog about a ice hockey game in Beijing. Actually before I received the assignment, what I did in the office was to search Chinese news sites for any family-related stuff. The first one I published on our website was something about the e-payment habits of Chinese college students — which apparently was off-course to our branding. Not a bad start, but that mistake opened many ideas about blog writing.
So when our managing editor told me to cover the ice hockey game (on the day of the match itself), I quickly affirmed, given that I had nothing to do on that day but to do a cake. So after office, I went to the ice sport center on Chaoyang Road to see the action. The whole article is here.
The following day (Friday), I drafted the story and transcribed my interview files in the morning and finished the article in the afternoon. Quite slow right? I had writer’s block, and actually I didn’t know what to write about. Plus I was distracted by the tabs I opened — mostly checking out some future events to cover.
And now, prior to writing this entry, I searched for other family events that I can write about for the blog — and so far, I have at least four events to cover. And earlier, I was thinking of possible blog columns, since I was assigned to several ones in the magazine.
The prospect of going out to interview schools and explore the capital makes me giddy. I’m only on my second week but I’m getting the feel of how great this job — and this year — will be.