"H" Is For Hard

[cbertsch]

The piece I'm writing is making me enormously anxious. Even though I know it's likely that my subject will find fault with much of it, I still want him to like it. At the same time, though, it won't be worth anything unless I put my own stamp on it. I guess that's what makes this kind of journalism so hard. I keep thinking about how happy Dennis Cooper was to be writing a profile for Spin on Bob Mould, only to end up pissing him off despite the best of intentions. Being a fan isn't enough. In the end, I have to stand up for my own perspective regardless of the consequences. I just wish that I could once and for all renounce the dream of pleasing everyone. That's a shortcut to madness.

Comments

[amackey84.livejournal.com]

I've always had the dream of simultaneously angering everyone involved in the stories I write and inspiring their respect. Probably hasn't ever happened, but I think that sentiment is somewhere along the right track. If it helps, I was always taught that the journalist is the expert, and the source is just that. It's highly pretentious, but it sometimes works.

[cbertsch.livejournal.com]

I wish I could believe that. In this case, though, the source is very much an expert on all the ways that journalists screw things up, necessarily and unnecessarily. But I think I'll shoot for winning his respect instead of his favor. So thanks for the helpful advice.