struggling to adapt

I have always considered myself a creative writer. In high school and even my two English classes here at OU, I have enjoyed writing about topics and what not where I can use my imagination and create imagery. I can use my own writing style. I have also been really successful at it, and shifting to academic writing was somewhat challenging for me because I was not very good at cutting out all the "fluff."

Shifting to AP style though, has been pretty challenging. I find myself having to edit several extra times just to fix little abbreviations because I am terrible at catching my own mistakes. Journalistic style has taken out personal emotions and standpoints, which I normally use to my advantage in papers. But, the rules are starting to stick slowly.

I like to be vivid when I write, and I often write too much, which is something that definitely needs to be avoided in journalistic writing. Every sentence needs to hold onto the reader's attention or else he or she will just turn the page. I don't like my work being overlooked, so I am definitely learning to adjust. I actually think the news story assignment was pretty easy for me because I am very interested in reporting. When I wrote it, I imagined myself actually reporting it, which made it much easier.