Look, that's a major occupational hazard. Talking to people is the only way to get real stories. The world does not need another writer sitting at a desk regurgitating information other people have already reported. Do we care what you think? Uh, no, actually.

But I understand. When I was a newspaper intern I was also afraid of interviews. But the thing is, people LOVE to talk about themselves. I learned that when I was assigned to go to a hotel where a bunch of construction workers were staying; they had all been hired by the town for some major demolition project, and I was told to "go talk to them and write a feature." (Yeah, that's about as detailed as most assignments get.)

I was a shy college girl and they were a bunch of rough-and-tumble construction workers. What, little old me talk to these scary strangers? I remember sitting in my car outside the hotel, dreaming up ways of getting out of the assignment. I could say they had all gone out when I got there! They were all in bed by 7 p.m.! Or hey -- they had all checked out, and each one had moved to a different hotel!

I finally put aside my fears -- because I was even more afraid of my editor -- marched in there and ended up having one of the greatest nights of my life. Also wrote one of the best stories of my life.

The truth about creative professions is that to be successful you have to not only be good at the creative part, but good at the game of networking, selling yourself, and getting your foot in the door. If anyone ever told you that all you need to make it as a writer is writing skills, they were lying.

This goes for being a photographer, painter, musician... in fact, you could say that it goes for any competitive profession. You might be the best stock broker or psychologist in the world, but if you don't know how to build your reputation and attract clients, you'll never be successful.

So, you learn to play the game. Others have given you ideas for doing this (grad school, internships, etc). If you are bad at the game, or don't want to play, it doesn't mean you can't write. Have another career doing something else and write for the pure joy of it.

LW ALREADY HAS A BLOG so would y'all just knock off telling him/her to start one? Sorry, I"m just cranky b/c it's still yesterday's letter.

Find the community newspaper or the publication your coffee shop prints, or someone's zine and volunteer articles to them. You won't have to do it that long to get some clips you can show.

Unfortunately, it's hard to break out of the "administrative assistant" role, in my opinion. (also I hate to tell you this, but newspapers don't pay all that well.) Here are some approaches that have worked for people I know, or for me:

* Take an administrative job for a publication (trade magazines are less picky about moving people up) and volunteer to do writing tasks.

* Volunteer for writing jobs at work. I did a department newsletter for a while right after college, and that got me an opportunity to write and edit the company-wide "quality newsletter" the next year.

* Volunteer to write training or documentation materials at work. Send out a "Word and Excel tips" newsletter to the administrative staff. Document the shipping procedures. Write about the marathon you ran in and submit to the employee newsletter. Whatever - any opportunity you see.

* Rewrite your resume to highlight the things that you did that relate to your next job, rather than the tasks you actually did the most of.

Stop worrying about the people who have less talent and get jobs - believe me, you are not the only one wondering the same thing, but really there's no point. Just start making whatever connections you can and be "that writer who is an admin during the day" rather than the "admin who wants to write." Say it until you believe it yourself. Good luck!

Ditto!

I hate it when CT takes a day off! SYA is one of my morning habits!

To the LW-- like most people keep pointing at: there's a lot of ways to get what you say you want, and the fact that you haven't really explored any of them seems to be the biggest challenge that you are facing.

So what's up with the excuses?

Network. It's how I got my job, it's how everyone I know who has a job writing got the job. I don't know how you network as a journalist, but as a fiction writer you go to trade shows and seminars and conventions, and you hang out on chat boards where editors hang out. If you spot an editor, you kiss ass like a mad person. This greatly ups the chances that your unsolicited work will be reviewed by an editor and not by a slush pile reader.

Also: Why exactly are you stuck on the idea of journalism? I just got an article published for a magazine with a national circulation. I got three hundred dollars. Which is okay, I didn't write the article because I needed the money, I wrote it because I had a nice article I wanted to see in print. If you're trying to do this because you need the money and you think journalism is a way to make money, you're in for a rude surprise.

Journalists have to be comfortable bothering strangers for information. You don't seem to have the skills to be a journalist. You don't actually LIKE any of the things a journalist has to do, except writing. So why journalism in particular? There are other writing jobs out there that don't involve nearly as much human interaction. Write ad copy. Write TV shows. Write non-fiction books. Write fiction.

LW, it seems to me that if your goal is to write, you would've found ways to do so by now. If what you really want is to be published, though, you should take a look at your motives. Do you want the satisfaction that comes from having produced good writing, or do you long to see your words in print? Do you think getting published will make you feel better about yourself? Do you want the outside validation? Figure out what you really want, and go from there. If you want to see your words in print, writing a blog or even letters to the editor may help you scratch that itch. You don't need to have a career as a writer to satisfy the urge to be published.