I wasn't exactly sure what his job entailed when I asked to follow him around for a day. After that Monday I had a lot better idea of all the things he was in charge of and saw some things Hudson residents don't see, such as the inside of the water storage and treatment facilities. It wasn't anything glamorous, but still a unique experience for someone who's not in the public works business.
When I sat down to write the story, I had a bit of a problem. I had an 800 word limit and probably 9,000 good words in quotes and stories I collected from Tim and his colleagues throughout the day. The challenge was to convey the personalities of each character (yep, character) without taking away from the point of the story--to describe in a chronological order the activities of Tim's day.
I think I succeeded in at least giving a good idea of the things that happen on a typical day. If I were doing it over again, I'd take more time to learn the details. I couldn't provide a technical or educational explanation of the things I observed Tim working on. I got so absorbed in what was happening that I didn't take the time to ask him to explain what was going on, let alone recording the explanation so I could turn into useful reader information later in my story. All the article consisted of in the end was purely my observations about what he was doing, and I don't have enough background in public works or water treatment to provide information on my own. I might have gotten bogged down in the details had I asked all those questions, but I still think I could have had a more well-rounded story in the end if I'd have focused on reporting on that aspect of the day.
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