THE Q factor
QUINTEN BOYD chreporter@mediactr.com
W ith the passing of 2008 and the entrance of 2009, I

decided to actually try to make resolutions that I knew I could keep without much motivation or forgetfulness. Weight loss? Nope. Saving money? Well, I'm a lot better at it than I used to be.

My biggest resolution was to start reaching out to the people around me more often.

I realize that readers of the Cherokeean Herald see my writing and perhaps even enjoy it, but don't really know a lot about me, the writer.

Naturally, the best way to start is by writing a column to those people around me: I.E., the people of Cherokee County and beyond who read this newspaper for their news and sports.

Covering sports has always been my journalistic passion. For 25 years, I have analyzed, poked, prodded, given statistics and tried to find the story beyond the story on sports teams. I wanted to tell more than just the game story; I wanted to get behind the game.

Don't worry: I'm not a one-trick pony. The same is true for any story. You want to get behind it and tell as many sides as you can in order to get the entire story. The beauty in covering a story does not lie in getting one side, but getting all possible sides and seeing how it affects those involved.

I treat my feature stories and my stories from the Alto City Council and Alto ISD School Board the same way I treat my Rusk football and basketball stories.

I also want to be truthful in all of my stories.

If you were to ask me what I thought about the Cowboys this year, I'd tell you precisely what I think. You may not agree, but at least we have an open dialogue about it. By the same token, if you asked me what I thought about a story I covered, I'd tell you the truth.

I forget where I heard it, but I've always heard the mantra that "everyone has a story."

My job as a journalist is to tell that story to the best of my ability. Sometimes, that story will make you cry. Sometimes, it'll make you smile and still others, it'll make you mad.

The point of a good storyteller is to make the readers evoke some sort of emotion. Whether it's me, writing here in the Cherokeean or you, telling stories to your kids or recounting the trouble you had getting to work to your coworkers, emotion is key.

That's my goal as a writer. I want to write articles that put some sort of emotion in your heart.

I hope that I've gotten off to a good start.