My favorite kind of writing, and another thing I love

First let me say that I enjoy many different kinds of writing - putting my best effort into an advertorial can be as much fun as fiddling around with a limerick for kicks, and getting into "the zone" with an article or an essay is just as satisfying as making things up for a story or the first part of a novel. (Don't know what the second part of a novel is like yet, though!)

But my favorite, favorite, could-do-it-all-day-and-not-get-tired-of-it type of writing is....

EMAIL.

Yes, I love email. And forum posts. I like LOL-ing and ROFL-ing and ;-) and :-D and giving short tidbits of advice or humorous observations, and commisseration and encouragement and everything else that can go into email or forum posts.

I think it's rather an art form... it truly is difficult to convey a certain tone through word-choice, even with emoticons.

Okay, so maybe it's not "real" writing, but I've written some of my best stuff in email and on forums. Every now and then, I'll have this fantastic mini-essay or service piece all ready to go when I realize I should save it, because it would work in an article. The only problem with that is that I don't get the instant gratification of having someone read it in the next two minutes and respond to it.

And here's another thing I love, that isn't technically writing but is part of being a writer: More and more, I love interviews! Preferably long, slightly rambling and partly off-topic interviews. The things you can learn by listening to people, and asking questions about them and what they're passionate about!

A really good interview jazzes me in a way that gets me bouncing around for the rest of the day. For example: I just interviewed two managers at a construction materials company. You would think, "oh great, we're going to talk about gravel," but no - they are committed to providing a great environment for their employees, and offer benefits like tuition reimbursement to help them advance in the company. I also found out that Western Colorado is not faring the same as the rest of the U.S. While everyone else is talking about slowdowns and rebates, they're in an oil and gas boom.

That's good to know, isn't it? That's interesting. I get off the phone and for twenty minutes I'm telling my husband all about it. He doesn't know what that has to do with anything, but I'm just excited. It has to do with something. I'm sure of it. It could probably even be the basis for an article.

Okay, so I've just revealed two things about myself: I like having conversations, whether by text or by phone, and I get excited over learning useless information. Except that it's not useless. To someone, a reader, it would be important. Maybe someone who works in construction and needs a job. I don't know. But there you go. The kind of writing I love is anything that's going to be helpful to someone, and provides me with almost instant feedback.

:)