OK, here's a big question, one that stops everyone at some point, even veterans:

What should I write about? What's "interesting"? And there are other questions: Is this story too small? Too big? Not local enough? TOO local?

We're feeling our way on this one, but we've been very specific that this is about The Grid, the central city, midtown/downtown. (BTW, I'm not that keen on the midtown/downtown distinction, because they're such vague areas. A map I once saw in the Bee had the line demarcating the two meandering all over the Grid, making hash of the distinction. So let's just call it "downtown" or the Grid, eh? And don't get me started on the whole "Handle District" or "SoCap" thing ... that's marketing, pure and simple.)

We want reporting on what's happening in this little 806 square block of heaven and hell known increasingly, if not universally, as the Grid. Because that's what it is, a grid, and one of the great beauties of it is that it is so well-defined. Though I've heard people extend the Grid into East Sac, and past Broadway into the inner suburbs like Curtis and Land Parks, the Grid is very well defined. And that's a good thing. We've got two freeways and two rivers hemming us in, and that gives us something to push up against. We should keep it well-defined, in the same ways that San Francisco and Manhattan are "hemmed in,' and Los Angeles is not. Limits are a good thing, they literally "define" something.

I focus first on the geography because Sacramento is a place more than, say, an idea. In fact, the idea of Sacramento is rather dull: Capital city. Zzzz. I grew up in the suburbs and lemme tell ya, that was not an inspiring idea then, and it still isn't.

However, the reality is much more interesting than the idea. Sacramento, the place is, in a word, cool. Yeah, that's right. No, it's not New York, but it's also not Albany, NY, or Salem, Oregon. (Austin? C'mon, be fair...) But people who come here from other places - unless those other places are Chicago or SF or other much larger cities - are struck by Sacramento's complexity and depth.

After all, Sacramento is one of the most diverse cities in the US, and thus, in the world. We have a new African American mayor, who follows a Latino mayor and a female mayor, and they represent us well. We have thriving communities that are almost cartoonishly diverse. My street in the grid, on the south side, is home to Chinese immigrants, Indian shopkeepers, gay couples, a mahjong parlor, dive bars, several Burners (denizens of Burning Man) and more than one drug dealer. And a Latino family of four, and a Vietnamese family of three. And musicians. Musicians everywhere.

Sacramento is diverse in every way, and the Grid squares that (pun intended). My point is this: Every single one of those people has a story. Some of those stories are old - my ancient Chinese neighbors came here in 1969, escaping Communist China, and still barely speak a word of English - but others are as fresh as daily headlines: One neighborhood house has seven guys living “halfway” to somewhere, and there’s an art gallery - wait, now there are two - just down the street. We used to have a record label two blocks down (they moved to nicer Digs), and we’ve got a cigar store that is all the way Cuban. There used to be an all-local-rap radio station next door.

These are ALL stories. They’re too small for The Bee. But they’re perfect for us. We’re interested in the Capitol and its craziness, but we’re not at this point equiped to cover that (on the other hand, if you're in the Capitol, we'd love to hear from you). But the above stories, and so many more, are instantly available to us.

Or rather, to YOU. It is you who will tell these stories, and the more that are told, and linked to each other, the more we will create a crazy quilt of cross-referenced stories that will reinforce each other, and teach us about each other.

And there is no story too small for SacramentoPress.com. In fact, as a new writer, you're more likely to go too big, to be too inclusive. My advice: Forget trying to cover the waterfront (unless you've found a very interesting part of the waterfront); just tell a simple story. You'll find that even the smallest story isn't all that simple, and as you build it, and post it, others may have aspects of the story to add.

This is another remarkable part of what this site can do: Every story is potentially just the start, not the end, of any story. When I used to write a story for The Bee, I'd cover it the best I could, then it would be published, and that was that. If someone called to add something to the story, as often happened, I had no way to update the story. That's changed, even at The Bee, but at SacramentoPress.com, that's our bread-and-butter. Every single reader has the opportunity to add something to the story, and that, again, is the essence of the Storyline. Stories do not end just because a reporter stopped reporting, and wrote it. Life goes on, and SacramentoPress.com captures that ongoing story.

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