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LW has gotten so much great input both from Cary and other journalists, I really have hardly anything to add.
But, since I feel that I can relate to the LW, I'll share my experience too:
I spent four years in college as a reporter, then editor, then editor-in-chief at our daily newspaper. I loved it and hated it. I loved it because it took me out of myself and I felt like I was contributing in a real way. I hated it because of the pressure ... and because of feeling the same way the LW does. Even after three years of churning out multiple stories per day, knowing my sources, knowing the issues, it was hard for me to make calls, hard for me to dig. I had to steel and motivate myself to do it. A lot of times I wanted to crawl under my desk, or just edit stories, and not report. I don't know why ... it was just some resistance.
Now I'm a lawyer. I have the same personal struggles, they just show up differently. So, LW, it seems to me that you may "confront your demons" and find out that they're around for the long haul -- and that they are even an asset, as Cary mentioned. I think part of my resistance to reporting was perfectionism ... I always wanted to get it right, and interviewing and fact-gathering is messy. I dreaded it. And I was messy. Sometimes I'd fail to ask those nitty-gritty questions, for no good reason other than I was uncomfortable, or whatever. Or I'd miss an angle because I was obsessing over the wrong thing. I'd have to make the inconvenient callbacks. It sucked. I never felt wholly comfortable with my role, and that self-consciousness always was present when I was doing interviews. That was just part of my process. Others around me were naturals -- I could see it. But, at the same time, I wrote some great, thorough stories. My obsessiveness and perfectionism paid off in other ways. I was a good editor.
Your shy/awkward personality doesn't mean you should or shouldn't be a journalist. It's just your own personal struggle. Make your peace with it, set your boundaries, and recognize the upside.
And, I'm showing my personal bias by saying this -- do some reporting outside J-school! Get into the thick of things in some real context. It will help you define what you like and don't like, get a sense of whether journalism is for you, and if so, how you fit in.
