Sit Down and Write

1
Sit Down and Write

• Writing for the Mass Media
• Chapter 1

2
What is Good Writing

• Good writing, especially for the mass media, is
• Clear
• Concise
• Simple
• To the point

3

• Good writing is
• Efficient Minimum words dont waste time
• Precise Exact meanings
• Clear Leaves no doubt about the message
• Modest Good writing wont draw attention to
  itself. It wont show off vocabulary. Let the
  story stand on its merits, not your flashy
  writing
• Isaac Asimov
• I try only to
• write clearly,
• and I have the very good fortune to think
  clearly so that the writing comes out as I think,
  in satisfactory shape.

4
Know the tools of the trade
Know the subject
Write it down
Edit and Rewrite
5
Tools of the Trade

• Grammar
• Its a good idea to use grammar and spelling
  check in your word processing software.
• But, dont get too dependent. It will bite you.
• Spelling
• Use the dictionary www.m-w.com - most of us have
  5,000 to 6,000 words in our vocabularies.
• Be Interested in Language
• Guard language against misuse of abuse.
• Be Computer Literate
• Writing for the mass media today demands that
  writers use their time and equipment efficiently.

6
Knowing the Subject

• You dont have to be an expert
• If you have questions, your readers do, too. But,
  you must do your research have a basic
  knowledge.
• Confusion breeds inefficiency
• Find out enough to ask intelligent questions.
  And, ask people who do know.
• If the message fails, you failed
• Writing without understanding is like writing
  with a broken pencil.

7
Write it Down

• Ideas to Words - thats writing
• No one is a writer until ideas become words.
• Some people have strict routines
• Strict or not, writers need routines.
• If the message fails, you fail
• Writing is about transmitting an idea to someone
  else who will understand.
• Writing is a Discipline
• Deadlines make discipline a necessity.

8
Edit and Rewrite

• Rewriting gives you a chance to improve what you
  have done
• You may be writing for someone else
• Read your work to yourself
• Have others read your work
• Deadlines make accuracy a must
• Many times you will not be able to reread and
  rewrite your material. Media convergence will
  require more of you as a writer and editor.

9
Basic Techniques

• Write simply
• Powerful messages in clear, simple language
• These are the times that try mens souls.
• A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.
• I have a dream.
• Use simple words
• It is general truth, according to Henry Fowler,
  are not only handier to use but more powerful in
  effect extra syllables reduce, not increase,
  vigour.

10

• Mark Twain
• I never write metropolis for seven cents,
  because I can get the same price for city. I
  never write policeman, because I can get the
  same money for cop
• Benjamin Franklin
• To write clearly, not only the most expressive,
  but the plainest words should be chosen.

11

• Use simple sentences
• Subject-predicate or subject-verb-object
• It is better to write three short clear sentences
  than to confuse your reader with a long,
  complicated one
• Dont use one word more than necessary
• Simple, straightforward prose is mandatory for
  writing for the mass media.. It has no
  substitute, and readers will not excuse its
  absence.
• Eliminate jargon, clichés, and bureaucratese
• Jargon is language known by an elite audience.
• Clichés are overused, trite words or phrases.
• Bureaucratese is serious misuse of language,
  wordiness and vagueness.

12

• Examples of jargon, cliché, and bureaucratese
• Police Jargon. Suspects or perpetrators (perps).
• Clichés. dire straits, par for the course
• Bureaucratese. Endeavoring to construct a more
  inclusive society. Making a world for everyone.
• Use familiar words, not foreign phrases
• Difficult or long words slow down your reader.
  Foreign phrases are usually wasted on your
  audience. Dont insult your reader.
• Vary sentence type and length
• Simple, complex, compound and compound-complex

13

• Varying sentence types gives the readers mind
  time to breathe.
• Dont try to pack too much into one sentence
• Sentence variety promotes clarity
• This is important when you are trying to get
  information and ideas to readers quickly and
  efficiently.
• Mass media writing demands writers get
  information out accurately, quickly and in a
  variety of formats -- newspaper, magazines,
  online, radio and television.

14

• Simple, compound, complex and compound-complex.
• Simple Alex wrote a letter to his friend
• Compound Alex wrote a letter, and he mailed it
  the next day.
• Complex Alex wrote a letter that contained his
  confession to the crime.
• Compound-complex Alex wrote a letter that
  contained his confession, and he mailed it the
  next day.

15

• Pay Attention to Nouns and Verbs
• Sentences should be built around nouns and verbs
• Verbs are the most important words writers use.
• Verbs denote action and get the reader involved.
• Transitions tie together what you have written
• A sense of unity comes from good transition.
• This continuity in the story keeps it smooth.

16
Writing for the mass media

• Subject matter
• news stories, feature stories, advertisements,
  letters and editorials
• Purpose
• inform, entertain and persuade
• Audience
• directed to a wide (mass) audience
• Circumstances of the writing
• deadline pressures, editors

17
Becoming a Professional

• Versatility
• Rarely do media professionals stay with their
  first job.
• Writers need to learn a variety of forms or
  formats to survive convergence in mass media.
• Writing for the World Wide Web
• This writing form usually combines news,
  advertising, PR and broadcast writing formats,
  because many companies will hire persons who can
  produce content for all of their properties.

18
Writing for the web

• The Web
• Offers enormous potential for publishers who
  cant afford conventional printing
• Hypertext
• lta hrefhttp//www.al.comgtAlabama Livelt/agt
• Alabama Live
• Web Writers
• Need to know something about how graphics and
  photo formats operate on the Web.

19
Text and Images

• The Web
• Uses text, graphics and photographs in a seamless
  way to enhance presentation and add information.
• Hypertext
• lta hrefhttpwww.al.comgtAlabama Livelt/agt
• Alabama Live
• Web Writers
• Need to know something about linking pdf, jpg,
  gif, html, xml, sml and other file formats.

20
Writers are Readers

• Writing is a process
• Writing requires discipline
• Writing is building
• READ, READ and READ
• Good writers are products of good reading. Our
  writing style is a combination of whom read.
• Writing is Thinking
• Thinking involves passing information we receive
  through a filter we build from every political,
  economic, religious, social, intellectual,
  scientific, technological and artistic experience.