How to become a better writer

Think short-term, rather than long-term.
Improve on a story-by-story basis.
Maybe one day you write a catchy lede.
Maybe another you asked a great question that produced a great quote.
Maybe you came up with a statistic no one else had.
Or found a source no one else considered.
Do this over a year, and soon you'll be including two, three, four of these elements into stories at a time.

One last thing: Think. Before every interview. Before every game. Before every assignment.
How can I do this better? How I can approach this differently?

 

To me, my best stories are invariably the ones that have been the most thoroughly reported, where the reader is getting more information in every paragraph, without empty graphs just to set up a bunch of quotes from the same person.

 

Some tips that work for me.

1. Eliminate prepositional phrases when it's already clear (for the game, for the season, on the night, in the inning, over the season, etc.). I tell my writers - I'm the SE at a Big 12 Daily - that I want all they've got, space permitting, that's meaningful, but I'm going to try to whack all the extra words out of the story. During a short move to the news side, I would frequently cut a story from 800 to 600 or 600 to 475 words and not lose any substance.

3. Nix inactive verbs. Change "had" to scored, nabbed, grabbed, whatever, for points, steals, rebounds, etc.

2. Write YOUR story.
To me, that means understanding you're not simply the middle man between what everybody at the gym saw and what your readers will read, or the middle man between what the coach said and the fans reading about it, because there's always context.

For instance:
Friday night at Ted Nugent Arena, the Beatles used a constant offensive barrage to crush the Kinks 72-54.

That sucks. Who wants to read that. Don't even use crap that bland for rewrites.

But …

The way the Beatles had been playing, mere victory appeared the biggest question mark of all. Now it's where the heck had they been hiding the kind of game that produced Friday night's 72-54 decision and why'd they wait until the Kinks arrived 20 games into the season to unveil it.

(the name of the arena can wait)

A beat writer, more than anybody, should "objectively" know what the score, ramifications and context is at any moment. That knowledge should be a vehicle in every story.

4. Read, Read, Read.
Once upon a time, the New York Tabloids were an epiphany to me.
I may not write like that, exactly, but it really loosened me up.

 

Shorter sentences are always better-written than longer sentences. A guideline I once got at a writing seminar was anything longer than 19 words is too long.

In years of copy editing, I always found the writers I liked reading best were using short sentences, the ones I hated editing had some whoppers of 50 or more words.

And use active verbs. The weakest possible subject/verb combination is "It was .."

The only other thing I would suggest is avoid leads that start with the name of the team you cover. If you cover the Boston Celtics, avoid TBC (The Boston Celtics) ledes.

 

Old Tony,

Never heard of that last one.
Please explain.

 

It's just weak to constantly be leading your stories with the team name is all I'm saying. Like it says, if you're covering the Boston Celtics, don't keep leading your story with "The Boston Celtics ... "

It's just a personal tip I'm passing along. I didn't learn it from a writing class, but I think starting numerous stories with "The Boston Celtics ..." or whatever team it is, is a sign of weakness. I'm not saying it's totally forbidden, but don't do it more than one, maybe two, times a month.

 

I edited this, of course, for a reason. First and last, if you care about what you do, it will improve your writing. The care will show because you'll be a better reporter, a better observer. I'm a much better reporter now than I ever was when I was actually a reporter way back when in the early '90s. And it shows in my writing (if not here in my posts, then at least in the things I have linked to on this site).

I'm a firm believer in rhythm, pace and structure. A long sentence or two or three makes the short one that follows that much more powerful, creates impact that is impossible to deny.

And, from Jones' example and encouragement, my beginnings and endings have become much better, crystalizing what I'm going to write about and then wrapping it all up, the sometimes perfect end to my tale. I'm hopeful they linger, at least a little while.

 

TTIWWOJMACG

For those who don't know what that means:

This thread is worthless without JMacG

 

BEST writing advice I ever received: Occasionally read your work into a tape recorder and then listen when you play it back. This will give you a perspective on your own work that cannot be gained any other way. If, when listening, it doesn't make sense, neither will it make sense on the page when read silently by a reader. Similarly, if you find your attention drifting when listen to yourself, so too will the reader's attention drift. Discovering where this happens, and why, will help you edit and revise. Awkward and inappropriate phrases will stick out when read back aloud - cut them. When you stumble over a word or phrase when reading aloud, there is probably a better word or phrase to use. Over time you'll develop your own inner ear which will allow you to hear your own work without using the tape recorder. All writing is language, and language is sound, and by listening you will learn to use the sound and rhythm of the language to your advantage - that's called style and is the way you find your own "voice."

 

to some extent this is right. But, you do have to let people know who you are writing about. For preps and features, I would think it is imperative to get the subject in the first 2 graphs.

 

You're absolutely right, there. I'm not saying otherwise. My pet peave is when it's consistently the first three words of a guy's story. We have a guy on our staff who was doing that all the time.

 

Good thread.

I found this when I was in high school. It's Stephen King's "Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully."

I've listed the ones that apply to what we do.

1. Be talented.
2. Be neat.
3. Be self-critical.
4. Remove every extraneous word.
5. Never look at a reference book while doing a first draft.
6. Write to entertain.
7. Know how to evaluate criticism.
8. If it's bad, kill it. King says "When it comes to people, mercy killing is against the law. When it comes to fiction, it is the law."