The monster called brevity and news writing

If anything is to be said about entertainment writing, the words ludicrous and sensationalized would definitely pop at the top of the list.

Which is actually why way back in college and shortly after I obtained my degree, I had a strong aversion  very little penchant towards entertainment writing. For firm two reasons:

1. I could care less what's going on in the pretentious world of show business
2. Some things are far important than Kris Aquino tweeting that Baby James got a fucking haircut or Marian Rivera lashes another celebrity with her inherent crassness.

As I write, I feel the weakness and the fright taking over me. Since I began writing for entertainment, I cannot help but feel my writing insecurity gradually swallowing its way to my diminutive 'writing' self confidence.

To say that my entertainment writing experience has been absolutely smooth sailing would be gravely fictitious. My preconceived notions were both challenged and changed as I came in. It wasn't just entertainment writing whereby the reporting of exaggerated situations and weaving inaccurate stories and blind items is a must. MB entertainment online's writing is altogether different from how I presumed entertainment writing to be.

Where other prefer to K.I.S.S or Keep It Short and Simple, I write relentlessly. Throwing every word I know, squeezing every bit of detail and lengthening a paragraph as if by doing so I could pay my bills.

I know and you know that when you're a writer you ought to stick to the KISS rule for your reader's sake. But if you are like me who prefers to be stupendously detailed bordering to nonsensically verbose, this would be a back-breaking if not impossible task.

But you see, my editor wanted me to revert to the basics of news writing. And that is of course, brevity. Economy of words and blah. Why the hell do we need to economize words? Is there an existing crisis in the writing world apart from the issues of writer's sparse salaries?

The space. The writing space they say is precious. Right.

News writing is not my forte. It never was and I guess it never will. That is among the numerous yet topmost facts about myself that I have had come to terms with for so long.

Writing a catchy lead, keeping the WH questions intact, staying with the 25-word-per-paragraph limit and so on and so forth. I had to learn them. Again.

Too often adults quip that out of a whole, only 1/4 of what we learned from school would be handy for us soon as we get our jobs. A concept that I remembered by heart. The same reason why I flushed news writing out of system. Not terrifically everything, but those nitty-gritty which I rather deemed as a waste of brain space. I have my own brain space economizing, you see.

Now my emotions are confused. I'm in a middle of crossroads. I'm fumbling with my news writing skills, not really sucky, but fumbling. And I am scared shit and hell excited to relearn news writing but the swelling confusion isn't helping. I knew there really was no option for me, just one path to take whereby I will surely learn. And thinking about it, most importantly, that is what matters. That I learn.

Nothing that is valuable is ever easy to obtain they say. If I wanted that precious knowledge I better be ready for the trials and work my way through every hindrance of deadlines, fuming editor and personal dissatisfaction.

FIGHT!