I was surprised the other day when my husband Kyle walked into the living room with his phone in his hand and said, “September is ‘Be Kind to Writers and Editors’ month.”
He then got me a drink from the kitchen and let me pick what to watch on TV, which I thought was very kind.
I’ve been a writer since I could hold a pencil. I still have notebooks full of stories that are not legible from childhood that I’ve just kept with me well into adulthood. I’ve written 4 and a half books (stay tuned), and I’ve worked for a newspaper since I was co-news editor of my high school newspaper, the Blue Devil’s Advocate. I love writing, and that’s one of the reasons I went into journalism.
I love the creative aspect of writing. I’ve always loved telling stories, both fictional and factual. I used to read books and recite the plot summary in detail to (very patient) family members, I wrote elaborate stories in class for projects when everyone else wrote about their friends playing basketball, and I used to stay up and watch ABC’s 20/20 with my mom because I was fascinated by the stories they told. I hoped one day to be able to help tell people’s stories, because everyone has a story and they all deserve to be told.
My love of writing is something I’ve documented many, many times, but I thought September would be a good time to talk to our editorial team in north Oakland about why they decided to go into writing. We write stories on local goings-on every week, we’re involved in our communities, but I thought it was a good chance for everyone to get to know the person behind the keyboard a little bit.
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“I always wanted to write. The dreams and goals have changed but it always involved writing. As a child, I had so many daydreams and ideas for stories. As I got older, writing was the easiest way I could get thoughts and dreams out. When starting out writing for high school and college newspapers, everyone has a story to tell and I want to help tell it. And, that’s what I tell local writers to help them brainstorming ideas – everyone has a story, what’s your story?”
-Wendi Reardon Price, Clarkston News staff writer
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“It was a family thing. Between my older brother and I, a Fleet has been in a Michigan newspaper for about 50 years. Being a journalist allows me to make a difference everyday and be an active part of some great communities. At the end of the day, I’m still just a beat reporter, best gig ever.”
-David Fleet, The Citizen Newspaper editor
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“I became a journalist because I like talking to people and being able to tell their stories. I like that connection. I also love writing. As a third generation newspaper person, I was fortunate to have a front row seat to the careers inside the newspaper. I knew no matter where I landed, as long as it was at a newspaper, I’d have a career filled with talking with people and one where every day is different, something I crave. More than 20 years later, I think I got what I wanted.”
-Emily Caswell, brand manager for the View Newspaper Group
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“I love writing. I think it’s fun, I enjoy it. I like taking pictures too. And I like reading, and I feel like that goes hand in hand with writing. One reason I love journalism is that there’s so much variation within it. I love taking time to learn about topics and present them in an interesting or exciting way – which is part of why I love features. It’s a great feeling to write an impactful sentence or paragraph. I love being able to tell my friends and family about something they may not have heard about and see their reactions. Being able to write news is an extension of that. A publication is often a combination of all those things and more.”
-Joseph Goral, Oxford Leader and Lake Orion Review staff writer
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“I was a research psychology major in my third year, and I realized I’d have to get a PhD, but I didn’t want to keep going to school, so I changed to journalism. It was a calling. I’ve always been a writer, whether it was research papers, papers for school, articles. It just came naturally.”
-Jim Newell, North Oakland managing editor
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“I’m not great at math, but I care about media literacy. And I get to write about stuff that isn’t super serious, like you would in English class. When you’re in English class and writing an analysis, it feels really serious, and you don’t have to do that in journalism and it’s kind of nice. Everything is pretty straightforward.”
– Megan Kelley, Clarkston News editor
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Just know that we’re in a writing profession because we love it. We have conversations about reading and writing all the time, it’s a passion of ours. Writing is a difficult job, for many reasons, but it’s also very rewarding and fulfilling. Many of us had different paths to our positions, but one thing was common: we couldn’t stay away.
If you see any of us out and about in the community, and you have a story to tell, let us know. We love hearing stories, and even more than that, we love writing them.