on the record

Off the record, part of me was legitimately surprised that Church magazines offered me the New Era internship--the internship (apart from the news position) that involves the most writing. Before now my writing experience was thorough in ten-page research papers, one-page response papers, and quippy blog posts, but my magazine writing portfolio was lacking. I also don't have any professional interviewing experience. Or photography experience. My actual editing portfolio bursts at the seams, but when it comes to professional feature writing (and all skills accompanying professional writing), I don't have much.

On the record, I had my second in-person interview this evening. I met a group of Young Women down in West Jordan and talked to them for about an hour. I drafted up a list of possible questions earlier and referred to it when needed, but most of the time I could just ask questions with the flow of the conversation. When I meet new people, I'm usually more on the reserved side of things, and so having to be friendly and open with strangers while directing a productive and purposed conversation is new to me. I'm having to seriously step out of my comfort zone--which is good for me.

I have an in-person interview (this one by myself) tomorrow afternoon and another group interview next week. Off the record, I'm still a little intimidated by interviews. On the record, I'm a real writer here.