Writing from my couch . . .
Just me and a bottle of red . . .
It’s not the name of a country song, but rather how I spent my Thursday evening – me, my wine, my notepad, and the TV tuned to Fox for the season premiere of So You Think You Can Dance. Recently, I took a freelance writing job as a ‘news writer’ for the pop culture site Wetpaint. It struck me the other day, as I was watching a live stream of past contestants Alex Wong and Kent Boyd, how different this world of dance is from what I know of dance ( cough . . . kind of cheesy . . . cough), yet how much I am LOVING this job. It’s stressful and exciting all at once because I have to post content everyday. This is the first gig I’ve had with such a rapid turnover rate. Normally, I agonize over the editing process for days.
Research has always been a part of the writing process for me in the past, but nothing like this. I have several Google Alerts set up to notify me of recent news about the show. I also joined Twitter to follow all and anything related to the show. I fell like a ‘professional stalker’ as I wake up in the morning to see what tweets pop up from SYTYCD judges, alumni, and choreographers. I scour the internet in search of ‘newsworthy’ content. All of this to produce a quick blurb about Cat Deeley’s self made fashion, Mary Murphy’s return for season 8, or what former contestants are up to. The ‘research’ is the most time-consuming part.
