{"id":756,"date":"2010-08-09T22:30:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-09T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/"},"modified":"2024-06-17T16:55:55","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T06:55:55","slug":"writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing + Pregnancy = a little bit too similar sometimes"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Today I gave birth to a 20-kilogram feature story. That\u2019s what it felt like anyway. Every word seemed to be dragged out of me, kicking and screaming. When it was done, the relief was so palpable that I felt lighter and brighter, giddy with joy.<\/p>\n

Like most features, it began well. There were no particular signs that this one would turn toxic.As with pregnancy, there was joy and excitement. I was genuinely looking forward to writing it, as it was an idea I\u2019d pitched myself and I had several leads ready to go.<\/p>\n

It was about the halfway point that things changed. I got led astray by a new contact, lost my direction and ended up with a couple of useless quotes and a case study I hadn\u2019t counted on. At which point, I put my hands over my eyes and prayed the whole mess would go away.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t, of course. The deadline passed, I was still looking for an interview to save it, hoping for a miracle. Nothing happened. So I turned to a trusted source, one who knew what I needed, one who would give me some solid foundations on which to balance a structure that was looking decidedly wobbly.<\/p>\n

As I sat down to write it today, I felt sick. I\u2019d left it until the last possible moment, waiting for The Muse (who, as we\u2019ve discussed before<\/a>, is beholden to no woman and clearly had a blow-dry appointment this morning). Through sheer persistence, I found an opening, a way in to the story, and from that it flowed. I managed to construct a frame that allowed me to wedge my material into the brief. And it worked.<\/p>\n

I have no doubt that every journalist has stories like these, that grow into millstones around their necks. I also have no doubt that most of those stories would involve case studies, the finding of \u2018real\u2019 people to fit a niche in the story. One day, when I\u2019m feeling stronger, we\u2019ll talk about case studies a bit more.<\/p>\n

But not tonight. Tonight I\u2019m pouring a glass of wine (I know, on a Monday, outrageous!) and toasting the Muse (who is no doubt out dancing and not sitting at home waiting to hear \u2018cheers\u2019 from suckers like me) as I wet that story\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

And then I\u2019m going to get started on the next one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Today I gave birth to a 20-kilogram feature story. That\u2019s what it felt like anyway. Every word seemed to be dragged out of me, kicking and screaming. When it was done, the relief was so palpable that I felt lighter and brighter, giddy with joy. Like most features, it began well. There were no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[729],"class_list":["post-756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing","tag-freelance-writing"],"yoast_head":"\nWriting + Pregnancy = a little bit too similar sometimes - Allison Tait Author<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Writing a feature story can sometimes feel like giving birth. Allison Tait describes the process of writing a feature story.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Writing + Pregnancy = a little bit too similar sometimes - Allison Tait Author\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Writing a feature story can sometimes feel like giving birth. Allison Tait describes the process of writing a feature story.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Allison Tait Author\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AllisonTaitWriter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-09T12:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-17T06:55:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"286\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allison Tait\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allison Tait\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Allison Tait\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/person\/277afd61b41e1b23d976e1ae2f09cf46\"},\"headline\":\"Writing + Pregnancy = a little bit too similar sometimes\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-09T12:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-17T06:55:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/\"},\"wordCount\":416,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png\",\"keywords\":[\"freelance writing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Writing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/\",\"name\":\"Writing + Pregnancy = a little bit too similar sometimes - Allison Tait Author\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-09T12:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-17T06:55:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"Writing a feature story can sometimes feel like giving birth. Allison Tait describes the process of writing a feature story.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":286,\"caption\":\"Allison Tait blog\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Writing + Pregnancy = a little bit too similar sometimes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/\",\"name\":\"Allison Tait Author\",\"description\":\"Adventure, Mystery, Almost History\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Allison Tait | Author\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/logo_sm1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/logo_sm1.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":286,\"caption\":\"Allison Tait | Author\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AllisonTaitWriter\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/allisontaitwriter\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/person\/277afd61b41e1b23d976e1ae2f09cf46\",\"name\":\"Allison Tait\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4dfb414ad67df8aa68d6a62bc02c6ba2a7f718fd8f98b9b00f49451ae17f246?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4dfb414ad67df8aa68d6a62bc02c6ba2a7f718fd8f98b9b00f49451ae17f246?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Allison Tait\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/author\/altait\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Writing + Pregnancy = a little bit too similar sometimes - Allison Tait Author","description":"Writing a feature story can sometimes feel like giving birth. Allison Tait describes the process of writing a feature story.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Writing + Pregnancy = a little bit too similar sometimes - Allison Tait Author","og_description":"Writing a feature story can sometimes feel like giving birth. Allison Tait describes the process of writing a feature story.","og_url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/","og_site_name":"Allison Tait Author","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AllisonTaitWriter","article_published_time":"2010-08-09T12:30:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-06-17T06:55:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":286,"url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Allison Tait","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Allison Tait","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/"},"author":{"name":"Allison Tait","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/person\/277afd61b41e1b23d976e1ae2f09cf46"},"headline":"Writing + Pregnancy = a little bit too similar sometimes","datePublished":"2010-08-09T12:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-17T06:55:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/"},"wordCount":416,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png","keywords":["freelance writing"],"articleSection":["Writing"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/","url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/","name":"Writing + Pregnancy = a little bit too similar sometimes - Allison Tait Author","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png","datePublished":"2010-08-09T12:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-17T06:55:55+00:00","description":"Writing a feature story can sometimes feel like giving birth. Allison Tait describes the process of writing a feature story.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Allison-Tait-Logo.png","width":600,"height":286,"caption":"Allison Tait blog"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2010\/08\/writing-pregnancy-a-little-bit-too-similar-sometimes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Writing + Pregnancy = a little bit too similar sometimes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/","name":"Allison Tait Author","description":"Adventure, Mystery, Almost History","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#organization","name":"Allison Tait | Author","url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/logo_sm1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/logo_sm1.png","width":600,"height":286,"caption":"Allison Tait | Author"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AllisonTaitWriter","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/allisontaitwriter\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/person\/277afd61b41e1b23d976e1ae2f09cf46","name":"Allison Tait","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4dfb414ad67df8aa68d6a62bc02c6ba2a7f718fd8f98b9b00f49451ae17f246?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4dfb414ad67df8aa68d6a62bc02c6ba2a7f718fd8f98b9b00f49451ae17f246?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Allison Tait"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/allisontait.com"],"url":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/author\/altait\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}