I WAS going through my old files when I happily came across this lost handout, which I culled long ago from a long-forgotten journalism journal and gave out to my reporters in my days as the editor of Weekend Concord—the brightest Saturday newspaper of the late ’80s and the 90s. Every student of journalism, every journalist and every young writer who wants to succeed in his craft must cut this and paste it somewhere in the corner of his office and then read it every day as a guide on this journey to journalistic greatness. By the time you read our book 50 WORLD EDITORS, some of the ideas expressed below tally with what great editors around the world agree on and will tell you are the keys to journalism success.
- Good writers see the world as their journalism laboratory, a storehouse of ideas. If they can get out of the office, they can find a story. In fact, they can’t walk down the street or drive to the mall or watch television without finding something to write about.
- They prefer to discover and develop their own story ideas. They have an eye for offbeat and may find conventional assignments tedious. They appreciate collaboration with good editors, but spend more time avoiding bad editors and what they perceive to be useless assignments.
- They are voracious collectors of information, which usually means that they take notes like crazy. They are more concerned with the quality of information than with flourishes of style. They more often describe themselves as reporters than writers.
- They spend too much time and creative energy working on their leads. They know that the lead is the most important part of their work, the passage that invites the reader into the story and signals the news. They are inclined to describe how they rewrote a lead a dozen times until they “got it right.”
- Unlike some other journalists who stop caring for the reader after the lead is complete, these writers use transitions and endings to keep readers in the story. Their endings are so good that it is almost impossible to cut stories from the bottom. They want their stories to be “seamless” or “connected by a single thread” or “to flow.” They want readers to read every word.
- They talk about “immersing themselves” in the story. They live it, breathe it and dream it. They plan and rehearse the story all day long, writing it in their heads, considering their options, talking it over with editors, always looking for new directions and fresh information.
- Most are bleeders rather than speeders. When they write, like Red Smith, they “open a vein.” This is because their standards are so high that their early drafts seem painful and inadequate. But when deadline comes or a big story breaks, adrenalin kicks them into a different warp factor. They can speed when they have to.
- They understand that an important part of writing is the mechanical drudgery of organizing the material, what Saul Pett describes as “donkey work.” They may respond to this by developing careful filing systems. They also develop idiosyncrasies that help them build momentum during the writing process: pilgrimages to the bathroom, chain smoking, taking walks, daydreaming, junk food orgies or self-flagellation.
- They rewrite. They love computer terminals because it permits maximum playfulness during revision. They move paragraphs around, invert word order for emphasis, find stronger verbs and occasionally purge the entire story to achieve a fresh start. Alas, they are rarely satisfied with their final stories and, burdened with imperfection, can hardly bring themselves to read their own work in the newspaper. Writing is an expression of ego, making the writer vulnerable and, at times, insufferable.
- In judging their work, writers tend to trust their ears and their feelings more than their eyes. Some stare at the screen with their lips moving, praying that the inner music will reach their fingers. Editors “look for holes in the story.” Writers want to “make it sing.”
- They love to tell stories. They are in constant search for the human side of the news, for voices that enliven the writing. Their language reflects their interest in storytelling. Rather than talk about the five Ws, they are more inclined to discuss anecdotes, scenes, chronology and narrative. They tend to answer even the most theoretical questions during the interviews with war stories, jokes and parables.
- They write primarily to please themselves and to meet their own exacting standards, but they also understand that writing is a transaction between writer and reader. Unlike many journalists, these writers have confidence that sophisticated work will not be lost on their readers. They treasure the reader and want to reward and protect and inform the reader, and take responsibility for what the reader learns from a story.
- These writers take chances in their writing. They love the surprising and unconventional approach to a story. They prefer failing in print on occasion because those failures are one test of their inventiveness. They love editors who tolerate experimentation but who will save them from falling on their faces. Their secret wish is to produce the best, most original piece in the newspaper every day.
- They are life-long readers, mostly of novels, and they like movies. They collect story ideas and forms from other genre. They love words, names and lists.
*To buy at half-price your exclusive copy of “50 WORLD EDITORS,” (Interviews with the world’s leading editors) call Gloria on 08033445125