Professional Feature Writing Bruce Garrison(6)

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.Several good reference books were suggested in the previous chapter.Each of the following points about good writing requires your attention and time.If you learn to manage them, you should find great improvement in your ability to communicate to the world.Page 95Unity is like an anchor for good writing, Zinsser says.Some might call this concept a matter of consistency in your writing.Whatever you wind up calling it, remember it is a critical element of good writing.Tense, pronoun point of view, and mood are all indicators of unity in your writing.It is best to maintain a level of consistency in each.Do not mix tenses.Past and present tenses in the same sentence only confuses your reader.Articles that jump around from first to second to third person are equally disconcerting for readers.Mixture of mood can cause perhaps the most serious confusion for a reader who does not know whether to laugh, cry, be sad or happy, or otherwise respond to your message.Tone is also important in feature writing.Writers establish the mood or texture of their features with use of language.This is the tone of the article.Diction, or word choice, contributes to this characteristic of your writing."When we select one word over another of equal denotative value, we likely make the selection based on the connotative meaning of the word.And by using that connotation, we effectively establish a mood or texture—the tone—of the story," wrote Professor David Brill (1992, p.32)."In fact, tone is one of the most important elements of writing—and perhaps the most frequently overlooked."Giving an Idea Focus and DepthA large portion of chapter 2 was devoted to finding a successful article idea.Although some attention was given to developing the idea and giving it focus and depth, let us return to this in the context of writing.Focus comes throughout the article, but it begins with the lead.A wellchosen lead, or introduction, tells the reader what you mean to achieve in the article.It is up to you to guide the reader through the article, much like a road map, with the theme or idea you introduce in the beginning paragraphs.For a writer, focus is the key.If you can remember this, you will do better as a writer.Your articles will be stronger.The focus must carry through the rest of the article after you have constructed the lead.It carries through the body and dominates the ending, also.Think of the focus as the article's angle.To write a feature article only about appliance repairs leaves so much to write that a series of books could be produced.But to write about a shop that repairs household appliances is another matter.And to center the attention on the 85yearold owner who does all the work himself redirects the article still again.Page 96FINDING A SATISFACTORY STYLEWilliam Strunk, Jr.and E.B.White (1979), in their classic The Elements of Style, offered cautionary hints to help you find a style that works.Consider these items:1.Place yourself in the background.2.Write in a way that comes naturally.3.Work from a suitable design.4.Write with nouns and verbs.5.Revise and rewrite.6.Do not overwrite.7.Do not overstate.8.Avoid the use of qualifiers.9.Do not affect a breezy manner.10.Use orthodox spelling.11.Do not explain too much.12.Do not construct awkward adverbs.13.Make sure the reader knows who is speaking.14.Avoid fancy words.15.Do not use dialect unless your ear is good.16.Be clear.17.Do not inject opinion.18.Use figures of speech sparingly.19.Do not take shortcuts at the cost of clarity.20.Avoid foreign languages.21.Prefer the standard to the offbeat.You must be disciplined not to fall to the temptation to drift in your writing.Examine each paragraph as a unit.Is it necessary? Does it help get to the point? Then examine each sentence within each paragraph.Does each sentence help maintain the point of the paragraph? Then, finally, examine a word within each sentence.Are all words needed? Do they help the purpose of the individual sentence?Getting an Idea Down On PaperHow do you get the ideas in your mind on paper? Surely, as there are many outlets for your work, there are many approaches to the physical act of writing.Some veteran writers like to labor over a manualPage 97typewriter as they have done for years.Others use electric typewriters.But most writers have entered the computer age with a technological leap to powerful personal computers and multifeatured word processors.There are writers who work in the early morning because they are morning people.They rise and jump at the chance to get their creative juices flowing while they are fresh.Others, it seems, cannot get going until finishing several cups of coffee, a newspaper, the mail, and other activities.These writers seem most comfortable during the afternoon.And, as you have guessed, some writers thrive at night.When all is quiet and the day is almost done, these writers are busy at creating and work through much of the night, only to rest in the morning.There are writers who use a dictation machine or tape recorder to write, turning over the mundane duties of typing and preparing a manuscript to an assistant.These"idea" writers do not want to be bothered with clerical duties of typing or setting up a printer.Yet, some writers feel much closer to their work when they can do just that—control the typewriter and other effects of the writer's private work environment.Some still prefer to write their manuscripts by hand and do not deal with any machines at all, not even tape recorders.You can find writers who work in absolute silence to enhance their concentration.Some work in a social environment where other people are present, such as an office.The interaction seems to stimulate and inspire rather than interrupt and retard.Others like to have a stereo playing loudly, or softly, or the television turned to a program for background noise.Some writers produce a manuscript in one long and exhausting effort.Others produce it in bits and pieces.Some writers write a manuscript as it is presented, from beginning to end.You will find others who write the middle first, the end, and then the beginning.Some authors research first, then write.Some professionals simultaneously research and write.There also are writers who revise as they write, a sentence at a time.You also can find writers who write many pages and then revise.Some people write in an office at home.Some lease office space to get away from distractions at home.And others, who have fulltime jobs doing something else, like to write in their regular work environment.Writer's Digest Senior Editor Thomas Clark says a critical step in getting started as a writer is setting up."One of the most important commitments you can make to your writing is to set aside an area where you write," Clark (1990, pp.24, 26) explained, "What is essential to your mindset is that your 'office' have an air of exclusivityPage 98DEVELOPING GOOD HABITS: WHERE ONE WRITER WRITESEach writer needs his or her own "nest" for productive writing.It can be a corner in the bedroom, an office in the basement, or any other secluded location [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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