{"id":4294,"date":"2018-11-07T11:00:57","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T16:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/?p=4294"},"modified":"2018-11-05T12:59:53","modified_gmt":"2018-11-05T17:59:53","slug":"kaya-its-o-k-to-tk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/2018\/11\/07\/kaya-its-o-k-to-tk\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaya: It\u2019s O.K. to \u2018TK\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s a common abbreviation in journalism \u2014 \u201cTK\u201d \u2014 that often peppers first drafts and second ones, sometimes buried in the article until the very last and final deadline approaches. <\/span><\/div>\n

The unusual letter combination (\u201cTK\u201d doesn\u2019t appear in many words, so it\u2019s easier to spot amid a lot of text) represents information \u201cto come\u201d: everything from names and ages to quotes and entire paragraphs or chunks that remain unknown or just need a bit of tinkering.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big fan of using \u201cTK\u201d when I\u2019m writing, even (and especially) when I\u2019m spitballing ideas \u2014 some of my notes look like I fell asleep on the keyboard: \u201c\u2018TK quote,\u2019 TK said. TKTKTK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of my best stories have risen from a sea of T\u2019s and K\u2019s, including this one. I was typing out the headline, still not quite sure what I was about to write, when I recognized that the TK was more than a placeholder: it was an idea.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve realized that there are always more questions I could ask a source, always more information I could research, always more color I can add to make my stories more interesting and engaging. By leaving things open-ended, by creating a space to add something new, even by reminding myself that I really do need to ask someone how old they are, I open up the page to bigger ideas and possibilities.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also realized that leaving space in my life for the things to come can open up my own future to bigger ideas and possibilities in a way I didn\u2019t always think was the smartest, most pragmatic move I could make.<\/p>\n

For a long time, I thought if I left space in my life \u2014 if I filled my planner with TKs instead of meticulously handwritten meetings and appointments \u2014 I would end up feeling empty. I often worried (and still sometimes do) that if I didn\u2019t plan everything out for the next days, weeks, months, and years, those TKs and those spaces I left would turn into nothingness and regrets \u2014 for the opportunities I didn\u2019t seize, the hours I wasted, the time and energy that could have been spent doing something other than daydream, relax, rest in preparation for things to come.<\/p>\n

But leaving out the TKs just left me with information I didn\u2019t need, my energy overspent in pursuit of what I saw as a very linear path. Packing my schedule in high school, and in my first year and a half in college, seemed like the only way to achieve my goals as a journalist and as a person.<\/p>\n

And in some ways, those extracurriculars and activities <\/span>did<\/span> help me reach new heights. But the moment I dropped the meetings and classes that overwhelmed me, and the moment I made space for the TKs and all the good things yet to come, I didn\u2019t feel empty, or regretful, or unfulfilled.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead I felt fuller, happier, more fulfilled \u2014 as if my potential <\/span>increased <\/span>when I scrapped the jumbo planner and opted for smaller pages and more stickers. The thing I feared \u2014 that I wasn\u2019t doing enough, even though I was doing <\/span>a lot<\/span> \u2014 actually dissipated when I started approaching things in anticipation of life\u2019s great TKs. I spent more time with friends, I cooked more, I had the chance to have relax and have fun without worrying that I was wasting time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure, some of the things I wanted to accomplish were no longer carefully plotted, the boxes waiting to be ticked off. Suddenly, there were bigger gaps in my future \u2014 ones that I haven\u2019t yet filled in. Those big unknowns are scary for everyone, and especially for me, as someone who worries a lot about filling in the gaps.<\/p>\n

But a TK doesn\u2019t end up in the final version of an article. Information goes there \u2014 information the reporter finds in the process of research and discovery. The same applies to life: the things we don\u2019t know yet are still to come, but eventually, we get to figure them out.<\/p>\n

Every once in a while, when you\u2019re feeling overwhelmed, or off course, on a tangent or a break from some carefully-designed plan, remind yourself that it\u2019s O.K. to TK. Because the best is yet to come \u2014 even when we don\u2019t know what that is right now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a common abbreviation in journalism \u2014 \u201cTK\u201d \u2014 that often peppers first drafts and second ones, sometimes buried in the article until the very last and final deadline approaches. The unusual letter combination (\u201cTK\u201d doesn\u2019t appear in many words, so it\u2019s easier to spot amid a lot of text) represents information \u201cto come\u201d: everything … Continue reading Kaya: It\u2019s O.K. to \u2018TK\u2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2018,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[44485],"tags":[44489,922,44555],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4294"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4294"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4295,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4294\/revisions\/4295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}