Why am I scared to write a newspaper articles?

Question

Whenever I am assigned to do a story for the newspaper, I get scared and I put off the story. I find it a little intimidating at first but once I get into I am okay. I don't really understand the intital fear...if I love writing so much, why do I put off the story till later? Does anyone else feel this way about articles or anything else? Especially if they really love this particular thing?

Answer 1

When people are fairly new at anything whether it be publishing or playing baseball, they tend to be not too confident.
Time, practice and work usually overcomes these fears. I think you have the passion, you just need to polish it up.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes, those are forgivable. Don't lose your passion though. THAT'S the thing that will carry you through....Strive to be the best, you'll be fine.

Answer 2

I did work experience at a local newspaper and had to complete several articles for print. It is slightly unnerving at the beginning, but don't worry too much.
If you need any help, try to liase with your editor (if you have one) as they will probably have more journalistic experience and will know exactly what they will want in an article.

Don't rush into typing straight away - plan what you will say in rough draft, listing what you want to include in chronological order. That way, you will be able to create at least the rough framework of the article and you can go back to add more if you wish afterwards.

Good luck!

Answer 3

You are probably scared that you will do it wrong or do it the wrong way, wrong format, etc. To beat this ask these questions from your editor-
1)What is the format?
2)What info do you want on this?
3)Is there anything else I should know?

Also working with another experianced writer often or helping a rookie, will give you confidence.