Into my own -- What I realized on the peak of a mountain

Ann Arbor, Mich. – Just over a week ago, in the midst of an adventure in the New England wilderness, I stood atop the tallest summit in Maine and was seized with the urgent notion that I must return to school.

The Robert Frost poem, “Into My Own,” from the heralded 1913 collection, “A Boy’s Will” , describes a child’s playful musing of stealing away into the woods. For the poet, this proved to be a fantasy he fulfilled — much of Frost’s adult life was spent in bucolic Vermont.

I returned in time to enroll. And with a bit of hard work and good luck, this course just might help me fulfill my own fantasy.

I’ve been an avid writer. I’ve been an amateur writer. It would be a joy to be a professional writer.

I disagree with “crusty old-timers” who treat “features” as “nonessential stuff,” as Tim Harrower writes in “Inside Reporting.” Maybe that is why I am interested in feature writing. I view features as alive and vibrant, not sterilized with only the facts. It seems more consistent with the way I like to write and who I am to declare that the stories captured in a feature often feel more real than factual, inverted-pyramid stories.

In this course, I hope to learn how to craft my writing into something publishable. I’d benefit from better interviewing techniques and guidance as to what may be a good story idea. Most of my favorite journalists use the first-person voice liberally. It drives their narrative. I anticipate that my biggest challenge will be to write lively and compelling features without relying on my own place in the story. I’m up for the challenge, and with help, I look forward to creating articles that will bring me closer to my goal of being published.