As a copy editor, I’m required to know the rules of grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc., etc. That, however, does not make me a good writer. Or even a mediocre one.

I discovered my severe writing limitations in college. I was working as a reporter for the college paper at the University of Oklahoma. After working gung-ho on stories every day for three semesters, I realized I hate interviewing people. Asking questions, making cold calls, hounding people for information — all these elements of the interview are basically torture for a shy person who hates the phone with a passion. Couldn’t I just send burglary victims a text message to get a quote? “R U mad abt bng rbbed? >:( ”

But these interviewing skills are, unfortunately, an absolute requirement for a reporter. Otherwise you’re just writing about random observations. Kind of like this blog.