Writing from the Inside Out

John CouperAdvanced Newswriting, JMC 2602

Fall, 2009

One aspect of good writing

• Later we will consider audience, technical issues and accuracy, – but today we will focus on the personal

processes of writing

• What good is a correct story that nobody wants to read?

Perception is Interpretation• Writing records links between our perceptions

and the external events we perceive • As soon as stimuli reach our eyes, ears,

tongues, skin, we begin to interpret it (make associations) within milliseconds– These associations are individual

• There are no purely objective facts– Example: response to seeing a storm

Beyond general facts• We communicate using shared symbols,

suggestions, associations etc. – Example: say “let’s leave” with your eyes

• The more symbolic your writing, the more meaningful it will be– Use comparisons, metaphors etc. for “layers”

• The more explicit and direct your writing, the clearer it will be– Use concrete and everyday terms when you can

Imagine a conversation

• If a friend tells you about their holiday, what makes it meaningful? Facts or:– Details– Responses– Comparisons– Conclusions and summaries….

• Why should we expect less of news?– Two versions…

Garbage is on the Street

If garbage isn’t bagged, wind gusts can blow trash as it falls from an autocart into a garbage truck hopper.

“As soon as you start dumping a can with the winds we’ve had recently you could end up with half of it out before you get it in the truck,” Tucker said. “A lot of them bag but still put in loose stuff. Newspaper and grocery store plastic bags are the worst.”

Allen said the city has attempted to curb the problem — to no avail — by replacing retractable screens with a solid material. Loose trash blows when it’s falling from the can, it blows out of the trucks and it blows throughout the landfill when its dumped. Catch fences are in place within the landfill to limit the amount of garbage that can blow away.

How we see the world

• We experience the world on many levels, such as– Detail– Groups or categories that bridge details– Abstract concepts that bridge categories

• Example: watching a demonstration

…but don’t wallow

• Good writing is not self-indulgent– It is hard and careful work– Bad writing only follows a formula

• But we should be honest about how writing happens– Knowing we are subjective is the first step

in making the best of our objectivity

How can this be journalism?

• Why is this not merely subjective?

• Because your personal search for objectivity– An effort, not a condition– Accept your limits and perspective– Be fair to subject and reader

How people think

• We experience events by understanding connections and circumstances

• We look for texture and groups and, sometimes, concepts– We barely know this because we do it

automatically all the time• Bad teaching stops us from casting our net wide

Making your Connections

• Writing makes connections for the reader– among details– between details and categories– between concepts and categories, etc.

• The connections in your writing come from your own knowledge, ideas, etc.

• Good writing has more honest connections– Simpler, more direct, clearer

Story Dimensions• A 2-dimensional story only describes

one level• A stronger story has a 3rd dimension

– Explanation– Experience– Detail– Comparison and contrast

• These come only from the observer

Topic into Story

• We will work all semester on the process of making a 2D topic into a 3D story– e.g., from fact to idea to importance

• or any other order

• Exercise: suggest a topic• Discuss how to work it into a story for the

Bengal

Write Well

• You do not need anyone’s permission to think – If writing is thinking, you also need no

permission to write in your own way

• But report and explain as a professional• Put aside old habits of “safe” thinking and

writing– Constantly notice what you experience and

think, and question “why?”

Write from the Inside Out

• Fully explore, experience and explain– You work for readers

• Question observations and conclusions – This maximizes objectivity

• Your writing will be richer and stronger