Hi.

[Pagano]

Hi, guys.

I'm Evan Pagano. I'm a 19 year old sophomore at the University of Missouri, and I'm majoring in journalism, which is a statement about as concrete as drywall. Really, I have no idea what I'm going to do -- maybe sports writing is my thing, maybe news writing is my thing. Maybe I won't go into journalism at all. No clue. What I do know, is that I want to write.

Being in the journalism school makes me feel pigeonholed into one type of writing - the info gathering, fact checking, tedious yet deadline-oriented cookie cutter that is most journalism. I hate to generalize -- I know you can get creative, even artistic with journalism -- but when you're in a school bombarding you with fine details and rules, it kinda drains your creative juices. Due to that, and my general laziness, I haven't written much of note since I've gotten to college.

So, that's why I'm here. I just want to write. Short stories, movies, books, whatever. While I'll likely post them on a blog somewhere, forums seem like a great place to get feedback on your stuff as well as a food bank of sorts to feed your mind with other people's styles. I'll make sure to read your guys' stuff and give feedback!

Thanks for having me,
Evan

[bluebellblueish]

That was precisely the reason I never did a Journalism major, even though I wanted to write. I did an English major instead, and thought to myself that even if I didn't get to write as much, I would at least be learning about how it ought to be done. And it was actually wonderful, and intellectually engaging -- better yet, I never felt like someone had sucked all the creativity out of me, because it was feeding my creativity instead :)