Inspiration is a funny thing. It comes in many different forms, from many different places. It can come unsuspectingly out of nowhere, or you can deliberately set out looking to be inspired. However you get it, one thing is for sure; we need it.
It's not just musicians and artist that need inspiration either. Everyone needs it. We need inspiration to get up in the morning, and be the best we can be at whatever we do. Sometimes your family or spouse inspires you. Sometimes you can inspire yourself. Whatever the case, inspiration is the great motivator, and will always create the best product, and the best results.
You can always tell the difference between a person who is inspired, and one who isn't. It's about having a purpose, and putting your heart into it. When it comes to writing it's no different. I feel I can often tell when a writer (or reporter) has an invested stake in a story, and when he's just "mailing it in." An inspired is writer is a dangerous thing. He can change your mind about things when you've already made it up. He can make you sympathize with other sides of the story, and question preconceived molds. Most importantly though, an inspired story, can inspire you.
The reason I mention this is because I've noticed how generic and UN-inspired content has become these days. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that there is so much more content out there, and reporters are pressured to over-cover stories. They beat these stories into the ground within the first few hours and even days of them breaking, and then drop them cold, moving onto the "next big thing." This is all uninspired work. Reporters are just trying to stay ahead of the next guy, ahead of the curve. A story breaks, and news agencies are all over it, covering every angle 24-7. They do interviews with every person the subject has ever come into contact with, they stake out their houses, and report incessantly. And as quick as they came, they're gone, when it's decided something better has come along.
Now I understand that reporters aren't going to be personally invested in every story they have to report on. That's the nature of any job, you're not going to connect with all of it. But there has to be something better than this pump-and-dump method that seems to permeate every paper, news agency, and story out there. From Bernie Madoff, to Sully landing in the Hudson River. Reporters certainly try to feed into our emotions, and make a buck off them, but when you read these papers and magazines every day, you see how formulaic they really are.
I read a paper just about every weekday. I enjoy the Science Times on Tuesday, and often read the Post or Newsday as filler during my train rides or lunch (when I have one). Each day, the stories are written in the same manner, with the same progression of who, what, when, where, why, how, neatly fitting into the same half page worth of writing. For some people, it's enough. They get the base information they need, and move on. But to me, it's crap. I get nothing out of it. I need some critical thinking, some insight into the players. But you just don't get that from the news anymore. I find that the best articles, stories, and writing, comes from monthly papers/magazines, where the stories are studied in depth for long periods of time, and the writers really take the time to craft the best story possible.
The National Geographic Magazine is a great example of this. I like to believe that the authors are really invested in these stories. That they chose them on their own accord, they weren't assigned them by a desk, blindly. And I'm sure everyone has a magazine or website that they enjoy more than others. That speaks to them, and inspires them with their stories and writing. And that's what it's all about. Why can't we take this model, and apply it to our daily news? I'm not saying that Newsday should come out once a month, but isn't there a way to balance it? Trim the fat? Lessen the amount of stories, but focus wholeheartedly on the ones that you do report. Do they all have to be rushed pieces of droll trash, forced through the printer to make a hard deadline of the next day?
I don't know the answer, but I have to wonder if there's not a better way to write a more inspired story.
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