I want to start writing again. I have to admit that my writing ability is lacking, but it’s not my fault. When I joined the army, I was given a job as an Interrogator. Which meant, along with talking to people, I wrote reports about weapon caches, bomb making houses and potential IED locations as well as terrorist meeting places, along with those reports I had to detail locations for patrol teams, and write biographical information on persons of interest. 

I have to admit, my favorite part of that entire job was the booth ops interrogations. I was good at it. My instructors gave me praise for my ability to break a detainee. Then came the part I hated. Writing the report about the interrogation. When I first started report writing I was detailed as possible, but when my instructors came to read the reports they told me that I was telling a story and that was wrong. Now I get it. My strong point is English, I loved writing, I loved telling a story. They wanted the fluff removed from the report and make it as basic as possible. Finally? I learned they wanted me to write like a 5th grader. Short, concise and to the point. For example, say I was writing a detailed location report on a weapons and bomb making cache? The report would go something like this: 

The house is red. It has a tin roof. To the left of the house is a metal shed.  The property has a five foot tall rock wall surrounding it.

For a person that loves to read, and loves to write, this made me die inside.  So I’ve been slowly trying to get back into a normal mode of writing. It’s difficult however, and at times I feel inadequate 

/end personal problem.