The World Will Know (Newsies)

6: Write What You Know

As she suspected, Katherine did have fabric at her apartment. However, if Elizabeth wanted to be in the room and assist Katherine with her writing, there was not going to be a sewing machine available. Given the choice, Elizabeth prefered to have company while working rather than the ease of a sewing machine.

So, there Elizabeth was, sitting on Katherine's bed that evening. A needle and thread were in one hand and the fabric was being held together by the other. At least this time, she would have enough light to truly see what she was doing. She had only gone up one side of one leg, but she was pretty sure these were going to look a whole lot better.

Katherine was lucky. Since she had a job, she had somehow managed to convince her parents to allow her to get an apartment away from them. It was located close to The Sun, where she worked, so it was much more efficient for Katherine than her old place with her family. The twins were jealous of her, though. Since they were a little younger and had stricter parents, they were definitely not going to be allowed to live on their own just yet, at least until their birthday this fall when they turned eighteen. So, when they needed to get away from their father, they fled to Katherine's apartment to relax.

Rebecca hadn't returned from Brooklyn yet, but the girls weren't worried. Rebecca knew to come back to the apartment after she finished up in the other borough, and Katherine was hoping she had something interesting to share, though she doubted it. The young reporter stared at the paper she had fed into her typewriter, trying to figure out something to write, yet nothing came to mind. She stood up, sat back down, then got back up and paced around her room, hoping the constant motion would work to stimulate some ideas.

When she managed to sit down and calm herself down again, she mumbled to herself, "You heard the man. 'Write it good.' Write it good or it's back to wheezing your way through the flower show. Eh, no pressure. Let's go." Then, her fingers floated on the keys, and she managed to type out a headline.

From the other side of the room, Elizabeth held in a small laugh at Katherine's conversation with herself. Katherine normally didn't talk to herself like this unless she was trying to focus, but sometimes the conversation just distracted the writer further, which Elizabeth always found amusing. She continued her work, her eyes mostly trained on the work in front of her, though she glanced over in Katherine's direction every once in a while to check on her progress.

But then, Katherine tugged the paper out of the typewriter and crumpled it up, throwing it in the trashcan. Elizabeth's head shot up as she heard her friend exclaim, "Come on, Katherine! Those boys are counting on you! Oh, you poor boys..."

Elizabeth set aside the pants and looked at her friend, tilting her head slightly. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Katherine sighed and turned around to look at her friend. "I don't know what to write, or the right way to write it," she explained, gesturing to the paper in the trashcan beside her desk.

Elizabeth smiled at her friend and declared, "I bet you'll figure something out. Think about what you know and work with that. So, what do you know?"

Katherine glanced back at the paper, then looked over at the young woman. "Well," she started, "I know what the story is, and it's so good that it could practically write itself. But I still have no clue what I'm doing, Eliza. The words just...they aren't coming out right." She strolled over to the bed and flopped down beside Elizabeth, then rested a hand on her forehead in an attempt to calm herself down. "Am I insane for wanting to give this a try?"

Elizabeth set aside her work and turned her body to face Katherine, ready to help. "You're not insane. You just have high aspirations. Come on, this is what you've been waiting for, Kath. I know you can write this, and it'll be fantastic."