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Twenty-One Top Writing TipsJune 8, 2010
Charles Lotter
Four very different writers shared the secrets of their success and their personal tricks of the trade. They were:
Roger Collis. An actor, broadcaster, writer and master raconteur who has earned world-wide recognition as a business travel guru through his long running weekly column, “The Frequent Traveler,” in the International Herald Tribune
Marcelle Bernstein. A much acclaimed novelist, nonfiction writer and journalist. Several of her novels, such as “Body & Soul” and “Sacred & Profane”, are best-sellers and were made into successful feature films and television dramas.
Eric Clark. A respected investigative journalist who has delved into the seedier aspects of crime and drugs. His gripping thrillers “Black Gambit” and “Chinese Burn” have proven particularly popular.
Jim O'Coonor
Jim O’Connor. An advertising copywriter who has promoted everything from boutique hotels to fork lift trucks, Clover Low Fat Spread to Palmolive Soap, Cornish Pasties to Australian rum.
Although very much a new idea for Summer Lodge the event was hugely enjoyed by all who attended. This success has encouraged the hotel and writers to repeat the experience on the weekend of the 15th, 16th and 17th of October.
Roger Collis kindly provided guests with a list of his 21 top tips for writing news stories, features and columns:
1. What is the story? The angle? It may be clear at the outset; it may emerge, or change, in the course of research. (Writing a weekly – especially a monthly – column, there is the risk of being pre-empted by news reports; the more spectacular the news, the more likely this is. One answer is to acknowledge knowledge of the news and commentate on it with your own inimitable spin.)
2. Researching the story: sources can be news clippings (which may spark the idea for a story); people… who can lead you to other people… the rush of excitement when suddenly you hit ‘pay dirt’ after a series of cold calls. Check and re-check the facts.
3. Research the publication; the people who read it – and their level of understanding. How much interest/knowledge can be assumed? Inform; but don’t teach experts in the field how to suck eggs.
4. Get to know the readers and talk directly to them (always be aware of the ‘reader over the shoulder’). [My readers of The Frequent Traveler column in the International Herald Tribune seemed to have a better knowledge of certain acronyms and travel jargon than those of the New York Times, for whom I often had to spell things out, only because they tended to be less informed about events outside the United States.]
5. Focus the story into the words/space available. (Don’t try to write ‘War and Peace’ in 600 words. However limited your space, selective detail can make the story come alive.
6. A news story is the antithesis of the short story (and often the feature) – the ‘denouement’ should be at the beginning, not at the end.
7. Hence the ‘pyramid lead.’ You need to engage the reader and explain what the story is about and why it is important – instantly. The lead might be a quotation, anecdotal, simply declamatory; the idea is to lead the reader into the next graf which tells the reader what the story is about and why it is important. The rest of the story is to ‘explain and amplify.’ If it needs to be cut half way down through lack of space on the page, it should still hold together. A good copy editor will try to ‘shrink’ your copy rather than cut it off at the end. But be prepared to sacrifice your ego.
8. Be active not passive; go easy on adjectives and adverbs; use concrete not abstract nouns. The best reporting rule is still to begin every story with the classic: who, what, when and where.
9. Use quotes sparingly but powerfully. Don’t pile quotes on quotes; measure them out with editorial. Give examples. Be aware of the ‘editor over the shoulder’
10. Tell people what they didn’t know
11. Style; ‘tone of voice;’ ‘point of view.’ Write as simply, as succinctly as you can and style will follow. Avoid mannerisms in the pursuit of ‘style.’ Fats Waller, when asked for a definition of jazz: ‘Lady if you have to ask, I can’t tell you.’
12. If you’re finding a pattern in disparate information and new ideas about it as you write, write on!
13. Get a ‘style book;’ what ever it is, be consistent. [For example I always use the singular after the collective noun; and tuck commas, semi-colons and full stops inside quotation marks] Good grammar matters.
14. If in doubt, cut it out. Don’t take risks on getting facts wrong.
15. Avoid ‘fine writing.’ Think about what Elmore Leonard said, ‘If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.’
16. Satire should be almost indistinguishable from reality. (Satirists these days are always being second-guessed by real events.) Now you see it, now you don’t. I was amused to hear the other day that a CCN copy editor had tried in vain to trace my favorite deus ex machina ‘Stanley Zilch, director of Blue Skies Research Institute in Broken Springs, Colorado.’!
17. Leave readers thinking that you could have written a lot more/given more detail on the subject if only they had given you more space. It is often the subtext, what you leave out which counts.
18. Columns are ‘the art of the possible;’ if only because you’re always a phone-call away from that last vital source when the deadline looms. Or the subject is only-way ready.
19. Deadlines and the ‘automatic pilot.’ This is when experience counts; mysterious reflexes seem to kick in when you are up against the wire and passionately trying to get the damned thing filed. You’ll recognize it when it happens; it is one of the painful joys of writing journalism.
20. If you think the story is great when you file it, think again. A little anxiety is a good thing. It’s when you think you’ve done a great piece that it all falls apart. Believe me; I’ve been there.
21. Remember, you are only as good as your last story.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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1 Hotel Designed by Thomas Hardy Hosts Literary Event | Hotels - global hotel system wrote on August 18, 2010 at 9:32 am
[...] great company and terrific raconteurs,” continues Charles. “Everyone who attended the earlier event this Spring thoroughly enjoyed themselves, so we decided to run it [...]