ONLINE JOURNALISM

A college course I took.  What I learned…

First, let me say that as a working class professional I spend a lot of time at my work but when the universe is being good to me (or I’m being good to myself), I get to sit and write for a stretch.  For you bonafide writers out there, you know how terrific it feels to be lost in the world you just created.  Sorry, but if you don’t know what that feels like you got no business writing – I don’t care how much money you make at it.

Anyway, being a writer is most often a solitary experience.  Especially, if you’re writing fiction, I don’t know how it can be otherwise.  My muse doesn’t play that well with others.   When he’s at his best, I like to think that he’s a rambunctious, playful little punkster prone to moments of sheer genius.  Needless to say, he likes to do things his way and most often it’s a lone wolf thing. 

But being a solo operator doesn’t always work best in today’s incredibly shrinking world.  A writer, like me for instance, might think he has terrific ideas but how does anyone else know whether he has one freaking decent thought in that over-inflated head of his?  Until a writer takes the plunge and shows the rest of the world his work, he’s the only guy in love with his own stuff.  Now, I don’t know if that means you should necessarily just give your best stuff away (especially if you’re a screenwriter guarding that almighty “high concept” you hope to cash in on someday), but I have come to believe that a writer needs to put himself out there in some little way.  You have to connect with the world and today more than ever you don’t have to wait for an editor to do it.

Putting myself out there like I am with this blog was not something I could see myself doing before.  Well, not before I took Catherine Toth’s Online Journalism course at Kapi‘olani Community College.  That’s sounds a lot like a plug for the course and I suppose it kind of is.  And you know the gal really knows her stuff, namely the current state of media communication on the web and how to become a part of it.  Being a part of it is a person’s chance to connect with the world.  What writer doesn’t relish that?  It’s the singular dream that comes from an often-solitary pursuit.  Not necessarily, anymore.

The information highway is a two-way highway.  Web-based media is not just a quick and powerful way to access the news and find out info on everything under the sun; it’s a way for the power of one to reach the many masses.  But knowing that is one thing, learning how to do it is whole other matter. 

Basically, Catherine taught me not just how to fish but why to fish.  Although, I never fancied myself that type of writer that would fall under the category of journalist, all writers have one thing in common: they tell a story (whether truth or fiction).  Being able to tell that story is what’s so terrific about being a writer.  Sure, the class taught me some of the basic nuts and bolts of how to go about writing for the web and how to navigate the world of web-based media.  But what the instructor taught me more than anything else is why I should.  And I wasn’t an easy sell.  I hadn’t really embraced the idea of starting a blog, for example.  In fact, with all my other responsibilities it was hard for me to get my bearings on the whole idea of blogging and putting myself out there, never mind how to do it.  I was hesitant about letting go with it.  Then, midway through the semester my best friend passed away… I needed time to get my bearings.

I wasn’t me at my best this fall.  But I struggled to hang in there and get the meta-message.  And I think it’s partly that we are in an age where we can choose to embrace the power of the Web and really make it work for us in so many ways or get left behind like dinosaurs.  Honestly, up until the very end, I was at risk of being a dinosaur.  Then something happened.  It’s happening to me even now.  I love doing this blog.  I love just putting it out there and seeing where it goes.  I’m just short of a 100 visitors thus far, I picked up only a couple followers and some random guy commented a simple “Thanks” in response to my Top 10 Gifts for Screenwriters.  That was just way cool to me.  It’s greatly appreciated.  

So, it’s enough of a start and now think I might be addicted to this.  Even as I write this I realize a bug has only just bit into me.  I want to keep doing this.  I just can’t wait for next time someone takes the time to just say “Thanks."

On that theme, thank you Catherine Toth.  You opened a window when another door was closed.  I owe you one. 

Btw folks.  Blatant plug, here:  Check-out Ms. Toth’s class (Kapi‘olani Community College, Journalism 297).  She’s enthusiastic and articulate, has her heart in step with the pulse of current media, and is easy on the eyes.  Hey, as I writer I have to call it like I see it : )