Worst recurring stories you have to write

Hands down..."Black Friday" and "day after Christmas" shopping stories. I guess if I was a scribe worth my salt, I could come up with new and exciting angles. But I just despised it too much (especially as colleagues were out of town on holiday with their families).

"Man On The Street" is a close second.

 

I always tried to look at each assignment as a challenge to see what different, fresh, unusual, newsy twist I could get.

Most hated was the "Go to the bar and interview folks watching the big Podunk U. vs. Podunk State game."

Ugh.

 

The H.S. sports feature in which the athlete says he "works hard".

 

Coving a season in which there is a new milestone for winning every week.
"Welp, Dipshit U rose in the polls for the 8th straight week after beating Bumfuck State on Saturday and added to the longest win streak in school history. A win on Saturday against Eastern Needledick would give Dipshit its school-record 24th win.
"We're not concerned about rankings," Dipshit coach Ed Cockblocker said. "The only ranking we care about is the one that comes at the end of the season."

 

Not exactly recurring, but can't wait to write the story next month on the dude who turns 40 on Feb. 29, but he's actually celebarting just his 10th birthday.

 

Board meetings of any kind, and I try to avoid covering them unless necessary. I always make sure I have a good novel in the briefcase to break out when the finance director or some other government or school wonk goes into a 280-page powerpoint presentation.

 

No such thing, really.

It's all a question of your attitude going into any assignment.

If you think it's going to suck, then it just might.

I think stuff like arts festivals and such would be horrible to have to find new angles to write, but I guess that's why I'm not on that beat.

 

Basketball season.

Thank goodness I'm our high school wrestling writer and the next month I get to pretty much pull off basketball and cover all the tournaments.

Either I'm lucky or there are a whole lot of non sports writers hanging out. I've never had to do a weather story, meeting story or 90 percent of the rest of the stuff most folks hate. If news came and wanted one of our guys to do that crap we'd tell 'em to get hosed.

 

Nah, some of my best stories were stories I initially dreaded. I just hate having to write the same damn story over and over again. After two or three times, it's hard to come up with an original angle.

 

I have to agree with you there. I have certainly had that experience.

 

Football players doing strength and conditioning in July

 

Ah yes, the semi-annual Bumblefuckton Bounce House, Face Painting and Crappy Cover Band Palooza.

Not to mention that if you try to do anything creative or different, you'll hear all the organizers complaining about how they didn't get this list of names or that list of parade float winners in there.

"You've always run that stuff!"

Gag me with a rusty pitchfork.