Writing Tips

Good afternoon my woderful followers. I hope you are doing well on this fantastic day of September 7, 2011. I saw frost on my car this morning but am happy that it will warm up this aftrnoon and be hot all week. I am not ready to put on my fall clothes yet. Are you?

With a new semester upon us, brings more blog entries. I have to blog once a week for my Journalism class. My last post invovled discussing the topic What Is Journalism? For this post, I thought to explore the world of writing for the news. I dont want to work in a newsroom but I thought it is still something I should be aware of if I am going to work in the exciting field of Journalism.

I came across a very informative article written by Peter Cole, a writer for an internet website called the www.guardian.cu.ca. Let me summarize Coles important points for you. He suggests that the first thing to do when writing news is stop and think and not start writing until you have a plan. He makes the point of saying it is really important to read through all your notes, marking the most important pieces of information and the quotes you want to use. The information you have gathered will not have entered your notebook in order of importance. You need to decide what is more important, what is less important, to establish a hierarchy of pieces of information. Cole indicates that this is where you must think about your audience. Not necessarily what interests you most, but what will interest them. It may not be the same thing, and this is where knowing, having a feeling for, understanding your audience is so important. As you stare at the blank screen try to imagine the reader.

I think this is so important. I have a background in public relations and graduated with a Diploma in Public Relations and Management from the University of Winnipeg. In every class our teachers emphasized the importance of knowing your audience. By the end of the course, I couldn't hear that expression any longer. However, from my work experience as a communicator in the non profit sector, knowing your audience only makes you a better communicator, a better fundraiser and a better manager as a whole. I get to know my audience by trying to put myself in their shoes at all times and asking open ended questions to promote two way communications with them. In my opinion, If you start with that remedy, you can't really go wrong.

Cole also suggests that you can start to know your audience by understading the intentions of the publication you write for. This to me makes total sense. If you write for a travel magazine, you make a few assumptions in that your audience will enjoy travelling, parhaps have a bit more disposable income to travel so may be more educated. Of course, assuming is risky but somtimes warranted to know your audience. Another hint Cole talks about in his article is The market sector in which the newspaper is located is also relevant to how you write.

These were the major points that I thought were very helpful and I will put these to use when writing in the future. I hope you found these tips as useful and helpful as I did.
Hae a fantastic Wednesday everyone!
Kindly,
Anrea Zaslov