writer@elizabethbushey.com

Writing: How-To

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The Times Herald-Record, Middletown, NY

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My Introductory Essay to my Journalism Class

I’m a writer.  I love writing, and I love teaching, so if your heart is in this course, we should be fine.

Some people say writers are simply people who hate their current jobs. Other people say that  “real” writing can’t be taught.

I think both statements are lies.

Journalism ­– and all business writing – can be taught, if the writer is willing to listen.  Of course, some writers have a real gift, and some of those gifted writers are signed on now. Still, even those of us, less gifted and more driven, can figure out a way to construct a sentence, ask a question, and answer it quickly and effectively.

Be willing to listen. As a journalist, you must listen for the truth you have a responsibility to tell. You must listen for the lies. They are informative: why are they being told?

Listen, for you must be accurate. Upon your credibility rests the credibility of the journal you represent – and of all journalists, all media. In no other profession is truth-telling taken so very seriously.

Listen, and learn how to tell the story properly once you know that truth.

Journalism, like all professional writing, means someone is going to read it. That someone is more concerned about the story than your feelings. As long as you’re in it to – eventually – get paid, one of the best pieces of advice you’ll get is to develop a thick skin.

It’s not personal. If the story isn’t interesting, no one will read it. Okay, maybe your mom will read it.

If you’re willing to listen, write it all down, and learn, though, you’ll be fine.

One more thing: journalism may be a surprise to those of you accustomed to padding your word count to round out all those high school papers.

Shorter is almost always better. You’ll learn how losing the “filler” and packing the most important, interesting stuff will make your writing better.  Shorter, but better.

Which is not to say you’re off the hook. There will be a lot of writing in this class: to me, to each other, and to your Constant Reader via your assignments.

I will annoy you with many comments about punctuation; since this is a writing class, even your e-mails should be relatively clean, although I won’t be as hard on your e-mails. Use a spell checker, but also use your brain. Recall that the spell-checker can’t distinguish homonyms.

Use your dictionary, especially if you don’t remember what a homonym is. Lay off the thesaurus. Simpler, clearer words are best. A good word is “use.” An unnecessarily pretentious word is “utilize.” Your readers will be “helped” by clarity; they do not need to be “facilitated.”

Choose words with care. You have so few with which to communicate in each story.

Want an A? Put your heart in it. Journalists aren’t usually rich, but they lead richly textured lives. If you end up loving this work, you’ll end up never “working” a day in your life.