Writing out of my comfort zone. I don’t have kids or a house, but I’m learning to write like I do.

Since I decided to stick around for another month to finish up the internship, Rebecca (managing editor) gave me my next assignment for the September issue – a fall home section. The funny thing about the stories that I have been assigned is that I have had little or no relation to them at all.

For the first section, I wrote stories about children’s health. Well, if you haven’t already figured out, I do not have any kids, and I have little interaction with them considering I live in a college town. I love kids, but it threw me off when I had to know and understand the steps to breastfeeding and what to do when children don’t get along in a household. Obviously, I turned to the best sources for the information, but it would have been helpful if I had kids of my own to understand the basics before going into it.

Then the education section threw me off again. I did do one story that dealt with the college level, but otherwise, the stories dealt with ages much younger. In order to get the story right, I put myself in the position of a parent. What would be important to me? What I would want for my kids?

I also searched the internet to get a grasp on education K-12 today. For stories I have ‘no clue’ about, I’ve learned the best thing to do is to surf the internet for awhile. Lets ideas swarm around my brain and try to develop an understanding of the basic knowledge of a topic. It can’t hurt.

And now the fall home section for September. Growing up, I lived in the same house for 18 years and then came to college. I do live in a rented house now, but it’s a dumpy, old college house with three other girls. Redecorating is something that wouldn’t even cross our minds and buying a home will not come for a few more years. Let’s just say I know very little about owning a home. Cross your fingers and wish me luck as I dive into another section!

Don’t get me wrong, I figured the stories that I would be writing about would not revolve around my interests and would probably give me a good run for my money. Although the stories are a bit out of my league, they have really helped me get a grip on branching out and introducing myself to new ideas and topics. When I am done with a story, I think of the challenges I overcame and how much information I learned through the process.

How boring would it be to write about the same things that I already know everything about? Variety and change keeps the job interesting!

Leave your comments here or on our FaceBook page.

by Whitney Riggs