Journalism dummies

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Do you want to write?

Do you want to be a writer good enough to work in a leading news paper?

Do you just think about becoming a good writer and do nothing about it other than think about it again and again?

Join the club (with no one but me in it)! Let’s stop thinking and work step by step. So I thought let’s give myself an exercise. Now once I set myself to a task the problem with me is that since it’s a "task" my lazy being instantly revolts. The revolting is so intense that moving a muscle towards the task is like rubbing sand paper on my face.

 So the first step to get into the task is to make it FUN! or at least something interesting. So I told myself “find 3 words everyday in the newspaper that you don't understand, Google the meaning and an example". Now I don't know if you've tried looking up random stuff on the internet but let me tell you, its another universe! Its so much fun and time just jets by so this is going to be interesting. I did find three words in the paper today and I googled it and found examples, Let me show you what they are:

   1. tight-lipped

adj

> reticent, secretive, or taciturn

Eg: University officials are tight-lipped about the reason for change in the administration. 

2. consensus [kənˈsɛnsəs]

n

general or widespread agreement (esp in the phrase consensus of opinion) 

eg: Among political women . . . there is a clear consensus about the problems women candidates have traditionally faced.

      3. amiable [ˈeɪmɪəb^əl]

adj

having or displaying a pleasant or agreeable nature; friendly.

eg: Amiable disposition acquired him a large circle of friends, who deeply lament his death.

Therefore I learnt three new words today and how they are used! If it helped me maybe it could help you. So doing this on a daily basis is important. Besides this read a lot! let it be anything. When you read notice their choice of words and how they place them to make a meaningful sentence and how they stuff a lot of information in it.

I found this on the Yahoo Answer page and thought that its pretty good. It tells you how to write a good article:

The lead is the most important thing. If you don't hook your reader quickly, he's not going to keep reading. Short and punchy works best.

Keep your paragraphs short -- 2 sentences on average. That creates smaller blocks on the page, which is more appealing to the eye.

Shorter articles tend to get read more, but sometimes it's necessary to go long, like on an enterprise or investigative story.

Feature stories can be longer and can have longer leads. Photos help engage the reader.

Keep in mind that some people don't read much of the article, so you want to have enough information in your first several paragraphs to satisfy them.

If you need to, you can break up a long story with subheads. That helps a reader jump around, skip parts and digest a story.

As the writer, you're basically the traffic cop telling the reader when to slow down and when to speed up. Excessive commas will get in the way. Semi-colons should be used rarely and exclamation points should almost never be used.

Don't underestimate your reader's intelligence, but don't over estimate their vocabulary. Don't try to impress them with big words that only you know the meaning of.

But tricks like alliteration can move a reader along at a faster pace. Try to write like you talk but a little less informally.

A good news story should read like poetry. It has a rhythm. Avoid overuse of conjunctions, stringing too many thoughts together, repetition of words.

Be concise, what we call writing it tight. If a word can be left out, leave it out. Avoid cliches.

There are many types of writing within newspaper writing, and they're all fairly different from the many types of non-newspaper writing.

Remember these basics: Be accurate, be thorough and be done.

Try taking an issue that only you know about and make an article out of it. Refer to the newspaper after you're done to see how you've done. I don't even need to tell you this but I'll say it anyways, be hard on yourself and be your best critic (Zzz..... I know! but it’s really true) And as you keep trying you'll see that you are actually getting better and soon you'll be a kick ass writer!

Hope I helped you in some way. Tell me how my writing is and how I could improve it!

Cheers!