Newspaper-writing sucks

So I'm working a full-time paid internship with my hometown newspaper. I'm filling in for a young lady on maternity leave/vacation for the summer, and doing all the things she would normally do (which is a lot.) She had been in charge of the "Hometown" page, which is where things like weddings, engagements, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, local concerts/events, etc. are posted. People come into the office and drop off photos/info for me, or they call and ask if I can come do a story on some little event. Whenever I get the chance, I write up these little reports/stories for these people and fiddle around with the photos and lay everything out on the page (we use Quark to do this).

But I'm also a reporter/photographer for the front page/page 2. Since I'm new at this, I've only been writing local human-interest stories for the front (memorial gardens, etc.), nothing really big, and only once in a while. But now that I'm not so new anymore, my superiors are having me cover more things and more often.

Working at a newspaper--even a small-town one like mine--is just as hectic as you'd think it is. Every morning we rush around trying to get that day's paper written and assembled before the 12/12:30 deadline. In addition to the actual news stories that we write in the mornings, we also have to take care of less interesting reports/releases, like obituaries and such. And depending on how fast or slow the town's culture is moving, I may be over- or underwhelmed with material for my page, so I'm scurrying to get that done as well as whatever else I'm supposed to do. And there are always little things that go wrong--the coffee burns, I drop the coffee spoon on the floor, hit my head picking it up--or I get some little piece of information wrong in a report and have to re-do the whole thing 5 minutes before deadline. It can be pretty stressful.

After deadline/lunch, I spend the afternoon writing up stuff for the next day's hometown page, or scrounging for stuff if I have nothing, or going out and about interviewing people/taking photos for stories. It's a very social job, and it makes me extremely uncomfortable at times, but I know it's good for me because I'm expanding my horizons.

All in all, I like this job. I have good camaraderie with my coworkers, and it's fast-paced and just varied enough to not be boring. But one thing I cannot abide is the actual writing itself.

Now I don't know how it is at large/famous newspapers, but at least here there is a set way for writing everything--a specific formula for the most miniscule police reports to the largest news stories. And if I or anyone else dares to write or arrange anything differently than it has always been done, everyone freaks out and makes the writer change it. There's no room for creativity or innovation whatsoever, not even in feature-style human-interest stories. It's quite frustrating.

And with the long hours and hard work I put into this job, I come home utterly exhausted of all energy and at best might read a book--but I really haven't had much energy or motivation for my own creative writing, not even for revising old stuff. This is bad!

And what's even worse is the paper has offered me a full-time position: better pay with benefits. If I were like any sane, sensible recent college grad, I would snatch up this opportunity for solid employment, considering how bad the economy/job market is. BUT, I really don't want to stay here any longer than absolutely necessary, I really don't want to do this type of work long-term, and besides, I don't know if I could handle it. Way too much stress! And if I continue working like this, my drive/motivation for creative writing will continue to wane until I'm afraid I might never get the inspiration ever again.

While it's true that this job has given me new perspectives on a lot of things, as well as a plethora of story/character ideas, the truth remains that it drains me to the point of almost hating the physical act of writing--of typing words into a document or even writing a letter (which is partly why I haven't updated this in so long).

Whatever happens, I need to find some strategy, some way of getting back my creative spark, or at least gaining back some of my lost energy so I can get back on the creative writing bandwagon.  If there is a way, I haven't seen it yet. All I can do is hope!