> > > > > Well, I have a dilemma. For my journalism class, I am supposed to write an article about something that would interest people, that people would like to read. The problem is, I have absolutely no ideas. Anyone know of anything that would interest readers, especially those of a high school age?
> > > > >
> > > > > I wouldn't post this unless I had no other alternatives, but seeing that that the term ends in a couple of weeks and I have written absolutely nothing in that class, I need HELP!!!
> > > > >
> > > > > Mi"who has nothing clever to say here"a
> >
> > > When I was teaching, I heard "I don't know anything to write about," all the time. I usually said the same thing Nyperold told you: Write about something that is interesting to you.
> > > If you can look out the window and not see anything to write about, you aren't paying attention! You can write about anything. I looked outside while ago and saw a squirrel hiding hickory nuts in a bale of straw. There's a story there if I think about it for a while.
> > > A friend of mine bought a new truck. Two weeks later he had another new truck just like the first one but a different color. You should have heard the story behind that one! My grandson said his class was going to a cave for a field trip. We talked for an hour about caves. Have you ever been to a cave?
> > > When I was reporter, the editor was always handing me an article and telling me to do a followup. Sometimes it's hard to pick one up cold like that, but with a little research, I always did him a story. Look in the paper. They leave a lot of stuff untold.
> > > I like to write "what if" stories. An airplane overran the runway in California the other day and narrowly missed a gas station. What if...
> > > A little Cuban boy survived the sinking of a makeshift boat and wound up in Florida at the center of an international tug-of-war. His mother didn't make it. How would that story have been different if she had survived?
> > > Look at old buildings. There's a story or two behind every one of them.
> > > Look at a vacant lot. What would you like to see there?
> > > And there's always the one about what you would do if somebody gave you a million bucks.
> > > Have fun,
> > > Howard
> >
> > Good advice Howard. But there are also a lot of stories right here on RinkWorks:
> >
> > 1. An article about censorship in music.
> > 2. The effects of violent/inappropriate lyrics.
> > 3. A summation of the worlds most interesting and fun web site.
> > 4. An interview with a coast guard member in New-Zealand.
> > 5. An interview with a captivating individual who taught school, reported all the news that is fit to report, collects scooters, did *something* with pigs, and on and on.
> > 6. Interviews with any of the regulars here at the forum.
> > 7. An interview with Sam about how he comes up with all the good ideas on this site.
> > 8. The great soft drink debate. Coke or Pepsi?... Dr Pepper!!!!!
> > 9. Candy from around the globe.
> >
> > There are countless things you could find right here on RinkWorks.
> >
> > Drac "I wanna read it when you get it done" imas
>
> Ah yes. Sometimes the best stuff is right under our nose. Number 5 sounds interesting.
> But seriously folks-- When I was a kid our teachers often assigned paragraphs, essays, themes etc. on the subject of our choosing. The whole class would groan. Not me. I loved a chance to shoot the bull and get easy grades for it. I never understood how anybody could dislike that kind of assignment. The ones that killed me were "Outline chapter 5." or "Answer the questions on page 61," or "Do problems 1 thru 680." In the summer, before TV, most kids read book after book after book to keep from going bonkers. I sometimes read other people's stuff, but mostly I just wrote the stories the way I wanted them be.
> ol' weird Howard

I feel the same way. I read whenever I get a chance, and I'm writing all the time. The only problem with writing assignments is that they always make us either write on a certain topic or (even worse) write an essay or similar nonfiction. I can't do either of those. I like better to just make soemthing up and just go with it.
Writing, to me, is a great way of releasing frustration or relieving worries. It's how I cope with things. It's great, if you happen to keep a pen and notebook by your bed. I do. Sometimes I just stay up for hours in bed, writing by the light of the streetlamp outside my windows. I do some of my best odd-fiction when I should be sleeping.

-eric "logophile" sleator
Sat 11 Mar A.D. 2000