Writing Workshop

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Writing Workshop

• Writing comes in grades of quality in the
  fashion of beer and baseball games good, better
  and best. James Kilpatrick, author and
  syndicated columnist

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Writing Workshop

• I believe large numbers of people have at least
  some talent as writers and storytellers, and that
  those talents can be strengthened and sharpened.
  Stephen King, author
• When you catch me an adjective, kill it. Mark
  Twain, author
• An adjective hasnt been born yet that can pull
  a noun out of a tight spot. E.B. White, author

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Writing Workshop

• Research papers, newspaper articles and
  magazine stories transfer facts from a variety of
  sources to the reader.
• But good writing also encourages the reader to
  think about what the writer has written to
  react to the writers analysis to open his or
  her mind to new ideas.
• A good research paper provides a well-thought
  out perspective of key issues related to the
  topic.

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Picking a Topic

• Make sure there is an adequate amount of
  reference material readily available
• Pick a topic that is challenging and interesting
• Have an grasp of the topic so you can understand
  and interpret important and relevant issues

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Getting Started

• For whatever your task, complete a proposition
  statement, one sentence that explains your topic
  clearly and concisely. This provides focus and
  direction.

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Getting Started

• ESPN is televisions world-wide leader in
  sports.

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Getting Started

• ESPN has increased the role of sports in
  American culture with its constant coverage of
  events, athletes and others associated with
  professional and amateur athletics.

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Getting Started

• Oprah Winfrey is the most powerful woman in
  television.

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Getting Started

• Oprah Winfrey can make or break a novel, send a
  movie soaring at the box office and create dinner
  conversation out of taboo social ills.

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Organization

• Organization is the internal structure of your
  writing the skeleton that holds the whole piece
  together. Organize by space, time or content. An
  outline of three or four main points often helps
  you do this. Those main points should also help
  support your proposition statement.

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Organization

• Oprahs book club selections consistently rank
  among the top 10 best-selling books in the
  country.
• Hollywood celebrities make Oprahs syndicated
  talk show the first stop on their publicity
  tours.
• Oprahs frank discussions of child sexual abuse,
  AIDS prevention, spouse abuse and illegitimacy
  have made those topics household and public
  conversations.

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Organization

• ESPN offers sports coverage 24 hours a day, seven
  days a week and reaches 70 million homes.
• The ESPN brand name dominates the sports world
  with its television and radio programming,
  website and magazine.
• Athletes, coaches, athletic administrators and
  fans consider ESPN the defining word on sports
  news and information.

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The Lead

• The lead of an article serves as its headline.
  Strong leads capture the readers attention and
  provide an enticing clue to the theme of the
  story. A lead may be the proposition statement or
  a version of it.

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The Lead

• On the morning of September 29, 1995, a number
  of individuals gathered in the East Room of the
  White House.
• The University of Notre Dame has attained a
  tradition of excellence that is unparalleled by
  competing universities.

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The Lead

• The glory, the Golden Dome and Touchdown Jesus
  are all you have to know when it comes to the
  Notre Dame football program and television.
• Ted Turner is an interesting man.

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Writing with Style and Clarity

• Good writing is clear and concise, lively and
  thought-provoking. Writing well takes time,
  patience and practice.

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Sentence Fluency

• Avoid choppy writing by varying sentence
  length. Some should be short and simple, some
  complex. But no sentence should be 60 words!
  Rambling, wordy sentences confuse the reader.

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Sentence Fluency

• Prompted by the threat of government
  sanctioning through the FCC, Arthur Taylor, a CBS
  executive, conceived of a system of protecting
  children from adult content by having all the
  networks agree to a timetable when only those
  programs deemed acceptable for family viewing
  were to be aired between the hours of 7 and 9 p.m.

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Sentence Fluency

• Average sentence length should be between 12
  and 15 words. Add rhythm by interspersing a short
  sentence among a longer one.
• Use different types of sentences simple,
  compound, complex and compound-complex.

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Sentence Fluency

• Johnny Carson dominated late-night television.
  (subject-verb-object)
• Americans invited Carson into their bedrooms
  every night, but he was never an intruder. (two
  or more independent clauses)
• Because of his flawless timing, Carson
  delivered a one-liner with flair and precision.
  (one independent clause and one or more dependent
  clauses)
• At Carsons request, NBC allowed him to work
  just three nights a week, and several comedians
  filled in as guest hosts. (two or more
  independent clauses and at least one independent
  clause)

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Transitions

• Good writing flows from one idea to the next.
  Dont let the reader stumble or ask, Huh?
• Create smooth transitions from sentence to
  sentence, paragraph to paragraph. Dont be afraid
  of connecting words or phrases.
• above, beneath, next, later, but, however,
  besides, even though, for example, finally

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Transitions

• Rupert Murdoch used to own newspapers. Then he
  wanted to get into television. He bought some
  stations. He started his own network. Now he
  reaches billions of people.

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Paragraphs

• Paragraphs should contain a single theme or
  idea. When you finish that idea move on to the
  next paragraph. Dont be afraid to write a
  one-sentence paragraph. Thats okay!

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Paragraphs

• Ted Turner had a dream of creating a cable
  network that would focus on all news all the
  time. Although critics said the network would
  fail, CNN signed on in 1980 and has been giving
  traditional broadcast networks a run for their
  news money. CNN has changed the way networks and
  local stations cover news in many ways. CNN
  became the leader in covering live events. Many
  networks and stations feel they have to cover
  live events just because they can. Being first
  has become more important than being right to
  many news directors. CNN also forced networks and
  local stations to create exclusive graphics
  packages for their newscasts.

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Style

• As a writer, place yourself in the background.
• Use words efficiently and effectively. Be
  clear, concise and focused. Write in a voice and
  tone that come naturally.
• Rely on nouns and verbs as the building blocks
  of your sentences. Then add appropriate
  adjectives and adverbs. But make every word carry
  its weight.

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Style

• Do not overwrite. . .and do not overstate.
• Do not inject your opinion unless you are
  writing a column or an editorial or have been
  asked for it.

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Helpful Hints

• Make sure your subject and verb are in
  agreement. Singular subjects require singular
  verbs. Plural subjects require plural verbs. Know
  the difference.

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Helpful Hints

• Make sure the pronoun matches its antecedent
  and avoid confusing pronoun references.
• Most of the events were on NBC, but they
  advertised for viewers to switch over to their
  cable stations if they wanted to see more
  coverage.

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Helpful Hints

• Avoid misplaced modifiers.
• There reaches a point, however, when the liquor
  companies are not responsible for minors
  actions, but their parents.

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Helpful Hints

• Avoid redundancies in words and phrases.
• The optimum time in which to advertise on TV is
  during primetime, which is from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
  in Eastern Standard Time.

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My Favorite Redundancies

• Easter Sunday
• Young baby
• Posh resort
• High-powered rifle
• Agricultural crops
• Lonely hermit
• Violent explosion
• True facts
• Personal friend
• Mutual cooperation
• Totally destroyed

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Helpful Hints

• Eliminate unnecessary prepositions and
  prepositional phrases.
• In order to, at this point in time, for the
  purpose of, by reason of, in the immediate
  vicinity

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Helpful Hints

• Avoid vague words nice, big, special, great
• Strong action verbs beat passive verbs every
  time. Fox is the network ratings leader for
  February. Fox dominates the primetime ratings in
  February.

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Helpful Hints

• Avoid general assumptions.
• NBC-Universal owns 24 TV stations as well as
  CNBC, the global leader in business news.
• These days reality television is the norm on
  every network working within the realm of
  entertainment.

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Helpful Hints

• Know the difference between
• Its, Its
• There, Their, Theyre
• Two, Too, To
• Affect, Effect
• Infer, Imply,
• Lay, Lie
• Sit, Set

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Helpful Hints

• Endings are important. Its your last chance to
  leave a good impression on your reader and
  summarize the most important parts of your paper.

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How Do I Become A Better Writer?

• Read
• Write Letters
• Read What You Wrote Out Loud!
• Revise Then Revise Again
• Have Someone Else Read What You Wrote Out Loud!
• Pay Attention To Detail
• Proofread Dont Rely on Spellchecker
• Cut The Fat