o_O

[ziasudra]

I thought this was supposed to happen only in movies, or to really famous investigative journalists who are out in the field digging for information.

You know those stories about small-town reporters who get leads on seemingly insignificant stories, only to uncover mamoth-sized truths about their cases that eventually link them to a world of sex, drugs, money, murder and meeting their super hot on-screen partners for that extra bit of movie romance?

I was doing research on a Chinatown bus story I'm writing for a university-based magazine, 700 words max. What I'm beginning to dig up are years of rivalry that led to acts of vandalizing, physical fights, gang involvements, money trafficking, and murders.

So much for a light-hearted "this is the Chinatown bus, blah, blah, blah..." story I had planned. *redrafts story completely*

I feel like I've been initiated.

Comments

[polykleitos.livejournal.com]

That is way cool. :)

When you get that story written, definitely let me know where I can read it, 'kay?

[ziasudra.livejournal.com]

Will do!

All the extra information is actually making the writing process extremely difficult. The piece still has a 700-word limit, and I can't cut out the section in the beginning that describes what the Chinatown bus service is. So right now the structure of the piece pretty much sucks, very jumpy and not at all in depth in its analyses.

But I'm having more fun than I would have writing it :)

[polykleitos.livejournal.com]

It doesn't seem like a lot of that information would even fit in a bus service story - 700 words really isn't very much - although that depends on how you write it. If it doesn't work out, you can always save up some of that information for another story.

[ee970.livejournal.com]

I wanna know the story too! My brother takes the Chinatown bus from DC to NYC all the time...

[ziasudra.livejournal.com]

Hehe, should I show you the scary story that I dug up about how the NYC-DC buses rank very low in safety and mechanics inspections?

The NYC-Boston rating isn't much higher, and my reaction was pretty much, "Oh, that's nice, I'll still take the Chinatown bus anyway." Besides, it was the NYC-Boston bus that caught on fire last year, not the NYC-DC bus. ;D

[lynkemma.livejournal.com]

Just make sure you don't end up in a dumpster somewhere.

*feels anxious*

[ziasudra.livejournal.com]

Nope, no dumpsters. I'm writing from the safety of my own home, and I'm careful not to name names unless they've already been in the news -- the good thing about "analytical" articles vs. "breaking news," when you have to be the first one to name names ;p

*hugs you for your kind concern*

[tanechigai.livejournal.com]

do you get to wear a trench coat like in the movies?