Thanks for writing this terrific column! I've always appreciated your advice. I keep a
Detroit Free Press rejection letter from you on my fridge -- it's more inspirational than many acceptances I've received.
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I recently started working for an award-winning small-town daily. I'm learning a lot, but the pace is a little overwhelming: I write two stories every day, in addition to covering any breaking news and writing our police blotter. I'm afraid that, at the end of the day, I won't have any clips I'm proud of to show for it -- just a lot of hurried work. I've been told that the pace is a little slower (one story a day) at larger dailies -- is that true? Should I just tough it out until I can move to a bigger daily, or should I start looking at weeklies instead?
Again, thanks! I look forward to hearing from you.
Emily
The quality of our work depends on many things. Three are talent, time and training. Others are passion and practice, and you seem to be experiencing plenty of those.
Large dailies, which seem to be especially under the gun these days, generally demand fewer stories than smaller papers do, but that's not to say the work is any easier. Weeklies can work you just as hard as any daily, so I wouldn't necessarily think of them as safe havens.
For now, work with what you've got. Your workload is likely imposed by top management, not your immediate editor, and seems unlikely to change. Working with your editor, identify one or two special stories a week that you think merit extra time. Those would be part of your normal workload, but by borrowing time from less difficult or important stories and spending it on these specials, you can report and write some clip-worthy work.
If you decide to move, grill the reporters you'd be working with about their working conditions. They should level with you. And remember to check out the quality of the editing they get. It can be just as important as workload.
Coming Tuesday: She's been an editor for only a month now, but can already see it is the wrong place for her. It may be time to go.
