Eight Basic Guidelines
I want to give you eight basic guidelines used in journalism with columns and features and what not. Some of this you’re already going to know, but I feel like we need to cover it early on.
1. You must have a basic knowledge of grammar. Your AP Stylebook will assist you in your knowledge of grammar, but you may also want to check out some websites for assistance, including:
* Newsroom 101
* Mastering the Art of the Eight Parts of Speech
2. Revise. This class is going to require work. For those of you who are already working on your first long essay assignment, you’re probably going to polish the first draft up considerably. Some of you who have done some writing already know that when you go back over a paper, you may need to re-write it completely. The first graf may become the last or vice versa. Change words, re-write, re-structure. Know what you want to say.
Revising is a part of writing. Sometimes you will discover, after you read your first draft, that there are serious faults in the arrangement of the material. It’s no sign of defeat or weakness if your rough draft requires major changes. That’s a common occurrence in all writing and among the best writers.
3. Write simply and directly. Do not overstate. Do not overdramatize. Use strong verbs.
I want simple, uncomplicated prose. This is not an English paper. Don’t write like you’re the high school valedictorian giving a speech.
Do not overwrite – Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome and sometimes nauseating. If the sickly sweet and overblown phrases are a writer’s natural form, and sometimes that is the case, show some energy.
Do not overstate – The reader is not dumb. If you have to overstate your work, you’re going to lose the reader, and he’s going to lose confidence in you.
Use the active voice – Be direct. Be bold. Say it. Say: He soon repented of his words. Not: It was not long before he was very sorry for what he said.
i.e. “not honest” use “dishonest.”
Change “not important” to “trifling.”
Change “did not remember” into “forgot.”
Instead of “did not pay attention” say “ignored.
Be direct, be definite. Use direct, specific language.
Always prefer the specific to the general.
Say: It rained every day for a week. Not: A period of unfavorable weather set in.
Say: He grinned as he pocketed the coin. Not: He showed satisfaction as he took possession of his well-earned reward.
Be direct, be specific, be concrete. Deal in particulars.
4. Write as you talk. If you are in the Student Center talking, you don’t say, “Upon completing lunch, shall we adjourn to the residence halls?” You say, “Let’s go to the dorm.” Write that way.
5. Don’t ramble. I don’t want to see four separate incidents or trains of thought in one story. Every feature or story or article should make some kind of point. Anything that does not, in some way, contribute to that point should be taken out.
6. Be clear. From the start to the finish, make absolutely certain that the reader understands what you mean and where you are.
There are occasions when obscurity serves a literary yearning, if not a literary purpose, and there are some writers whose style is more cloudy than clear.
But since writing is communication, clarity can only be a virtue. If you get bogged down in a sentence, start again.
Don’t try to battle your way through a swamp of words; you’ll go under. When you say something, make sure it’s needed.
7. Be organized. Work from a suitable design or outline. The work should flow smoothly. Transitions will help.
Before beginning to compose, gauge the nature and the extent of the work. A basic structural design underlies every kind of writing.
The writer will, in part, follow this design, in part deviate from it, according to his skills, needs, and the unexpected events that accompany the act of composition.
Writing, to be effective, must follow closely the thoughts of the writer, but not necessarily in the order of which these thoughts occur.
This calls, therefore, for a procedure, an outline, notes – some type of organization. In some cases, of course, the best design is no design.
You don’t write a love letter according to an outline. And, of course, you’re not writing a sonnet on a 14-line frame.
Most forms of communication are more flexible than that. But, most of the time you need to organize.
The outline, the notes, are the skeleton of the composition – and you bring the flesh and blood. But you’ve got to see some shape in what you write before you write it.
8. Something should happen in everything you write. There should be a beginning, a middle, and an end. A climax. A crisis. A confrontation.
Something should happen. I’m not talking about a short story. What I’m talking about is some kind of point. If you are writing a profile, which I’m sure you will do at some point in your life, some overriding facet of the person’s character should come on strong. This can be done through description, through some kind of incident, through some bit of conversation. I don’t mean that there necessarily has to be violence, an argument or anything dramatic. You can make something happen – for the reader – in a nature article even if you establish a rhythm, a tempo, or a mood. If you make the reader feel something, you make something happen.