In order to clarify my interest in web writing I decided to interview a web writer. The toughest part of the interview was finding a person to interview, I searched several different news sites and sent out a couple different emails before I was able to hear back from someone who was willing to answer a few questions I had about web writing. I typed up a few questions and attached them to an email. The person that ended up responding is named Jeff Hampton, he researches and writes stories for the Virginian Pilot The Virginian Pilot is a privately owned media company that is based in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a newspaper that feeds news websites. The Pilot feeds the core cities of the South Hampton Roads area, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, and Suffolk.

The first question I asked was a general question trying to gauge how long Jeff has been in web writing. Through that question I learned that he has been in the web writing business for fifteen years. Every news story he gets is posted online, and it also runs in print. Due to the demand the readership that the pilot gets requires them to also write for print as well.

I also asked him what a typical day as a web writer looks like, and he said that he covers Outer Banks, North Carolina for the Virginian Pilot. Most of his days are spent travelling around the Outer Banks and meeting with contacts on the scene. He says he is constantly checking all kinds of different sources looking for other stories to write. He spends a lot of time on his phone talking to other people for research on the story he is doing. When he is ready to start writing the story he sits down at his desk, pulls up classical music to help him focus, and just starts typing his article.

I also asked how long he spends researching a piece before he actually starts writing the assignment. He says that it depends on what kind of piece he is writing, big news stories can take up to a couple hours. Other news features can take a couple of days to research. However, longer pieces that he writes can take a week or more to research. However, the longer pieces will have shorter stories done in between.

Web Writing is his full time job because of all the research he has to do for the pieces he writes. I asked him how he got into Web Writing, he says he had an interest in writing in college, but instead he got a 2 year degree in wildlife management, and went surveying for a while before he went into the military. When he was in the Marine Corp he transferred helicopter mechanic into public affairs where he was sent to military journalism school. After that he got his bachelor’s degree in journalism when he was 32.

I decided to do this blog because I think my readers would benefit from understanding the life of a web writer, especially if they are thinking about going into web writing as a career. This would help them understand what a typical day as a web writer entails, and how much research they would have to do.