In early 2003, I responded to an ad to do political writing for getunderground.com.
Up to that moment, I had been an active writer, but I had not done features before; my writing had consisted of extensive journaling, letters to the editor, prose-poems, hundreds of ideas and phrases jotted down on Post-its, early attempts at short story writing, and a budding novel.
My first assignment was to cover an Iraq War protest. Rain kept the audience small, and made note-taking challenging (I had to hold an umbrella up and steady the mini notebook in one hand while I wrote with the other), but the people who showed up were die-hard believers in what they were doing, their moral outrage driven by a stolen presidential election and an invasion built on lies.
The editor I was working with wanted the piece turned around quickly, so I made an outline from my notes when I got home, did a first draft, and fastened down my final submission within a few days.
Looking back, it isn't a feature that stands out, but it was a good experience, a chance to do event reportage and get my foot in the door.
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