The debrief

First a recap, last week I did sit down and write 300 words — not just any 300 words — 300 very good words. And then I got up and drank a glass of water, did a waltz around my living room and I sat down and wrote another 350 words. All done. In about an hour and a half. Six hundred words I had been struggling with for three days.

I did have very good interviews to work from on that story. I also took a lot of time over the previous two days to go back over my interviews, pull out the important quotes and figure out where I had to flesh the story out for myself. I loath going through my interviews. As useful as it is to hear the interview, I dread hearing my own voice on tape. I usually only go back to the interviews as an act of desperation. This is a good reminder that there is a payoff to doing it properly. The more I use quotes the fewer words I have to come up with myself.

So, the "just do it" approach worked this time.