6: Writing Basics

Just like with interviewing, we are going to keep talking about writing throughout this book. You already read some and there will be more to come. Here, we are going to talk about the key components of article writing in a the classic journalism style. Before we do, however, I have spent 30 years working with writers and I think one things is often overlooked. Like we read in Chapter 3, the most important lesson about journalistic writing is to keep it clear, concise, accurate, timely and active. It boils down to a simple charge: Stick to declarative sentences. What does that mean, exactly? Well, simple enough: It means declaring something. This is that, like, "This apple is red." This did that, like, "He ate the apple."

If all sentences were written that way, we would be boring readers pretty quickly. But a basic structure that keeps sentences active is the foundation on which all writing can rest. When you break that rule, it is for reasons that readers can understand or feel. Here are three steps to think about when learning to write this way:

1) Move the actor and action "left."

A simple way to think about this structure is to remove the language or grammar and replace it with a simple formula. So Subject, verb, object becomes ...

Actor > Action > Result or Target

The closer you place action (verb) to the actor (subject), the more active and efficient the sentence becomes. The more efficiently you describe the result or target of the actor's action, the tighter the sentence becomes. Good sentence work is good writing in the making.

Take this sentence: The report was looked over by the committee.

Where is the actor? At the end of the sentence. Where is the verb? In the middle of the sentence, which often means it will be include the "to-be" verb (am/was, is/was, are/were). In this case, "was" is used to bolster the action of "looked over."

So move the actor left: The committee or Committee members

What happens to the "was?" It disappears.

The committee looked over the report.

2) Make the verb clear

What do I mean? Try to picture "looked over," what are you seeing in your mind's eye? Pretty vague, right? A more accurate verb, one that likely conveys a clearer image, might be "reviewed."

Committee members reviewed the report.

3) Only add words that clarify.

The sentence just above is active and short. Perhaps that is good enough, but what committee and what report? The line I use here is: Make every word carry its own weight. It is okay to write a longer sentence if every word you choose is doing something valuable.

Members of the Police Oversight Committee reviewed the September crime report with the Chief Ronald Wilson on Tuesday.

That is a much longer sentence, but I tried to keep every where relevant to the goal of the sentence.

Now, let's look at the American Journalism Handbook again to see its suggestions.