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  • And Ceramics Poses A Challenge

    Glenda, my editor, has given me new feat: write a pottery story.

    The writing of the material is a hurdle of sorts because of two things: I have not written in English for a long time, and I have never written anything about ceramics or the art of it.

    The former I can solve with extensive revisions but what's problematic for me is the latter. 

    And then goes the question on the form; should it be a feature story with all its structured journalistic elements? Or should I go experimental and write a personal essay?

    And the content struggle comes in. How should the progression go? What should be included and what should be kept hidden? Should the core be a profile of my teacher or should it be my experience as an enthusiast?

    And if I were to narrow the problen even further, it would lead to my first paragraph, my first sentence, that first magical word. I have so many things in my head--and I haven't even started yet.

    Of course all these will depend on the message, the platform, and the audience. I don't want to write the piece like an art critic; the last I want is to write a boring framework-based article on a topic that in nature isn't the most exciting.

    And there goes another question: How can I engage readers without sounding like a press release? 

    It seems that, like writing fictions, I am relearning how to write articles again--a challenge that is both nerve-wracking and blissfully bittersweet. - 12/4/2013
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