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• Saturday, December 9, 2006 10:38 AM

  yes, you chose the right field

  dear lw, i loved your letter because i identify with it so much, and also because i want to encourage you. i could have written your letter 25 years ago. i was the world's biggest introvert. how i became a tough, hard-nosed investigative reporter is anybody's guess.

  well, that isn't the type of journalism i do now, and hasn't been for some time. now i write about music. when profiling people, i still have to ask difficult questions from time to time, and i still have to deal with some people being unhappy about what i wrote, but i am immersed in a world that i love.

  the first thing you should know is that many, many journalists are extremely shy. for some reason shy people are attracted to the field. it gives them a vehicle for connecting with other people, and without that vehicle, they would be so much more isolated in life. also, shy, introverted people make good reporters because they know how to step aside and let the people they are writing about take center stage. they know how to be unobtrusive and observant. shy, introverted people make very good reporters!

  also know that journalism is a very broad field. there is all kinds of journalism. i was once offered the cops beat at a major daily in new york city and i turned it down. i knew i couldn't handle it. but at that same paper, i did just fine writing about travel and business, and even did a stint for a time as an editor.

  then i spent years writing for magazines, everything from public policy analysis to profiles, to the outdoors. that's what is so great about this field: you get to reinvent yourself as much as you like. you can write about whatever interests you, no matter how much those interests change, because it's all the same skill set.

  eventually i became a professor of journalism at a university, and helping my students find themselves as reporters was maybe the best calling yet. yet another facet of what is possible, what path you might take.

  here is the key thing for a shy person to remember when they are doing a difficult interview: your role is to be a good listener. your purpose is to give your source the gift of being heard. do you realize how rare such a gift is? think about how rarely any of us are truly listened to. so give your sources that gift, and all good things will flow from that. even an introvert can do that well.

  my original motive, the one that got me over the hump of my shyness, was to inform the public of what they need to know to set public policy. it was to uncover wrongs, to muckrake. but that didn't remain my primary motive. now i'd have to say it's more for the love of writing, for the love of good storytelling, and to share with others what i've learned, to touch others and uplift them. to give readers a gift.

  i think cary's advice to develop skills that make you useful is excellent. be the person in the office who knows how to run the computers and can fix other people's problems with them. be the person who thoroughly knows the style book and can answer anyone's questions on style. be the person who is a crackerjack proofreader, who is always thoughtful and substantive in your suggestions when reviewing your colleagues' copy.

  throw yourself into your curiosity, your passion for the human drama, and know that your career will evolve and change many times over the years. you don't have to have it all figured out right now.

  best of luck.

  —Anonymous
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