“Be prolific and competent,” says Santa Fe New Mexican education reporter Robert Nott about working as a journalist, or just about being a person in general. This, he explains, will take you far. The New Mexican hired Nott as an administrative assistant  because he could type 100 words a minute. Nott also had a history of working in the theater, which prompted the arts and culture editor  to assign him a theater review. Nott wrote the story, the editor told him he was a natural born writer, and he has been a reporter since. This story makes working as a journalist—even being hired as a journalist—sound embarrassingly easy, but keeping at it requires Nott’s considerable energy and focus. Nott is busy, not just as a journalist, but working on his own creative projects on the side; he has three, almost four books out, and regularly writes and directs plays. In all of his work, Nott believes in the importance of a sense of humor; he is a creative person who loves learning; and Nott is a constant advocate of exactitude, accuracy and efficiency. When it comes to his journalism, sometimes he has to “amuse myself into a story,” by writing a crazy opening for an article just to get interested and “keep it fresh,” so to speak.“If you’re able to laugh at things,” says Nott, “the days just keep getting funnier and funnier.” This appreciation for each day being a fun—or funny—new adventure is a part of what keeps Nott in journalism. “I could go back to bartending, or be doing something different,” says Nott, “and still have time to be directing a play at the Santa Fe Playhouse, or helping to start up a newspaper at a middle school, because I’m creative and I...