Another day of silence. Silence in my job search. I decided to take a journey backwards and recall what I had done so far. To my pleasant surprise, I landed on some interesting comments my articles got. Sab kuch dhiktha hai! The last piece I wrote when I was there. If I recall right, I got the idea of writing about transparent technology long before I actually wrote it. Many times that's what happens when you are a reporter with restrictions. Not any story qualifies for an article without all or at least a decent amount of inputs about the subject. The challenge however is how you bring together all you know about the subject, while not getting across as a white paper (read boring) on the subject. And for another, at the end of it all, or after a couple of revisits to the article, you realise that you had not really covered all angles to the subject.
#2 Revisiting articles can be motivating sometimes
Full HD vs. HD Ready Isn't that a subject discussed everywhere? Why would my editor want me to write this, when there are so many other subjects, especially in an issue that talks about the future of HD viewing, including a sneak peak into 3D viewing? If I had thought this way when I wrote the piece, I would have never known what good research I was capable of. Reading the article after a long time, I am quite amazed how a simple topic, though being spoken about a lot, is still interesting to read all over again, especially when weaved with a lot of new inputs.
#3 It's quite rare an uninteresting phone gets an interesting review
Swap to the new, honey What a catchy headline that was. Read further and you'll land on a simple gadget being reviewed interestingly, and even hyped to a level where the onlooker might want to wonder if its worth giving a second look. That was another challenge I was put across, where I was in a position to review gadgets - both interesting and otherwise - and also make them interesting features to read. A simple gadget many times don't qualify for a lot of talk, but the little it be spoken about, you might as well have everything catchy said about it.
#4 Headlines need to be catchy - they don't have to talk about the subject itself
Expecto Patronum I'm pretty sure Harry Potter fans would relate to the headline first. But what happens when you start writing about a topic as interesting or even more interesting as Harry Potter. What if it was a charm - in the gadget world - similar to the Patronus Charm in HP? NFC was yet another subject I always wanted to write about and finally got my pen in action. When you sometimes review your article - a moment as this - you realise that you actually wrote a lead to justify your headline!
#5 Its about chasing a trend than actually piling up similar gadgets
Wire-free, yet powerful Often times, it is a Chicken and Egg story. You tend to write a trend piece as you notice a lot of players working around similar technologies. There are seldom sometimes you hunt for similar such gadgets to create a trend out of it. But the challenge still exists as the reader should be put in a position where he doesn't realise what exactly was in the mind of the person who wrote the piece!
#6 Its a great feeling to do it before NYT!
Yes, my article on NFC (Near Field Communication) seems to have spoken about cashless transactions before NYT did. That's the best deal about writing future tech. That was one thing I loved doing. Finding out trends even before it can happen. The sense of satisfaction is amazing. It almost feels like you've actually invented it yourself. But the thing about writing future tech is that it can't be something too futuristic, isn't it? People are after all interested only in the near future!
