Writing Process

I think my biggest struggle for this assignment was bringing Grand Prairie to life. It's a very unique golf course and Ann and Jim are really great people, so I hope I did them justice. In my redrafting for the second piece, my main focus was to make the family element of the course more clear. I tried to emphasize how Ann and Jim's family has made Grand Prairie what is to today, and explain why they want to retire to the little course instead of San Antonio, Texas. I talked with Ann's daughter Caitlan, so I think that helped to bring in the family element also.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the end result. The writing and reporting process was less stressful this time around, but I still worry that the piece isn’t focused enough. I tried to bring more of the family element into the lede by making the connection to Grand Prairie being like Ann’s home. I also switched the opening scene from the Thursday night women’s league to a young family I observed right before I interviewed Ann. I tried re-working where I put the course description, but in the end, I felt it worked out better by leaving at the beginning of the piece.