Writing: The Importance of Second Opinions

August 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment
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You are – in your most humble opinion – brilliant. Your writing reflects a superior collection of thoughts and theories, the academic wonders that are certain to be recognized by all. You are daring with your dissections of history and philosophy, able to conjure intrigue from dull statistics. Your papers are experiences, not mere pages. Words are your carefully chosen allies, meant to sway others and prove genius.

That genius means little, however, when it’s revealed that you left a substantial amount of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes in your work. This was an unfortunate and avoidable consequence.

Your inspiration cannot be denied; but it can be tamed. Your papers are praised for their inventiveness but their grades still reflect the all too easy flaws – a confusion of words, improper substitutions and poorly constructed contractions. Your cleverness cannot be questioned. Your basic language skills, however, can.

And this is why it becomes so vital for you to seek the aid of others. Don’t assume your research will compensate for weak writing. You can’t rely on a perfect theory to make readers forget the imperfect presentation. You must instead find an editor – an individual who can decipher your meanings and shape them accurately. You can go to 411.ca and search for the kind of service that you need to make your life easier.

You worry, though, that this will be impossible: your papers are complex affairs, able to be understood only by those who are as familiar with the topics as you are. This is rarely a concern, however. Unless your research is filled to technical explanations, there should be no difficulty in pointing out the problems. Language is the purpose, not what it is trying to prove.

Academia is not meant to be solitary. Just as you rely on others to for theories and experimentations, you must also rely on them to offer advice. Your work cannot suffer from improper writing. It must instead be edited. Look to those who will not simply praise your ideas but will instead make them fully logical.

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Tips for Writing News Article Content in APA Style

February 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

One of the most common styles of writing for news writing is the American Psychological Association format, or the APA format. Almost all news articles are written using the APA style. This common style of writing makes it easier for editors to present a newspaper that has consistency even though it was written by various writers. Here is a guideline on how to make sure that your article follows the APA style format for the content that is written.

Create a Hook. All APA style news articles have some type of hook or lead. This is usually one or two sentences that will automatically grab any reader into the story that is written. Hooks need to be intriguing and force the reader to want to read the rest of the article.

Answer All Questions. The content of an APA style news article must answer all the questions that a reader might have. These questions include the whos, whats, wheres, whens, whys and hows of the topic. While you don’t need to go into great detail you need to give the reader enough information that they know what you are talking about and feel comfortable with the topic at hand.

Remain Objective. Almost all news articles that are written in APA style require that the writer remain objective on the topic that is being presented. It is important to think of the writer as a vessel for information and all that you are doing is writing it down and presenting it to the readers.

Write to the Audience. APA style articles require that a writer write in an active voice. This will allow the readers to feel as if they are a part of the article and not left out. You will also want to try to avoid slang words or jargon as it can be confusing to the readers and you want to appeal to a wide audience base.

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News Writing Information: Various Types of Leads

February 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment

When it comes to writing a news story one of the most important parts of the article is the lead. With a wonderful lead to a news story you can pull in thousands of readers and even readers who would not normally read the story. On the reserve side with a bad lead you can push readers away or not attract their attention. Here is a look at what a lead to a news story is and the different types of leads that can be used for a number of news stories.

A lead in a news story involves the first few sentences of the story. A lead can involve anything from catchy phrases, quotes from well known figures in the area or even asking the reader a question. A lead is meant to stand out and grab the reader’s attention so that they are enticed to read the rest of the article.

There are two types of leads a news writer can use. There is a soft lead and a hard lead. A soft lead is something that is fluffy and creative. Soft leads can range from having a quote from a book, movie or celebrity, a catchy phrase or even asking the reader a question. A hard lead is more concrete with what it presents the reader. Hard leads usually present important facts to the reader in one to two sentences. A reader can generally walk away from a hard lead knowing the important parts of the news story after just reading one sentence.

The type of lead that is used when writing a news story depends on the story that is being presented and where the article is going. Usually pieces that are known as interest stories or fluffy pieces use a soft lead, while those that are meant to present cold hard facts will use a hard lead.

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How to Start Out Your News Story

February 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment

News articles can take a lot of work. There is the need to come up with a story, do the research, conduct interviews and then write the story in an unbiased way that will not only inform readers but will catch their attention. Many people who write news articles have a tough time figuring out how to go about writing their news article. These people generally have the topic and research but do not know how to go about getting the words on the paper. If you are one of those people here are some tips that will help you write a great news article.

Do Extensive Research. You cannot write a great news article without researching the piece first. The problem many writers run into is that they did not research the article enough and therefore do not hold enough knowledge to create an article that is informative and important to the readers. Make sure that you get as much information as possible on all aspects of the topic that you are writing about. This will help you when it comes time to write the story. Remember you can never have too much research.

Create an Approach to the Topic. Many writers have a hard time writing a news article because they do not know how to tackle the topic that they are covering. It is important that you take a few minutes to figure out how you are going to approach the topic. Make sure that you determine how you want to present information, what you want readers to get out of the article and how you want the article to flow. All of this will help you once you go to write the article.

Write Eye-Catching Leads. Readers like to read stories that have great leads this is why a great eye-catching lead is so important. Many writers spend most of their time creating great leads that will grab the reader. It is always a good idea to write several leads to a news story so that you can create a great news story.

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How the Inverted Pyramid Structure is Used for News Stories

February 1, 2011 by Leave a Comment

While it might appear to the casual news article reader that there is no logic to the information that is presented there is. Many news writers who write news stories for the major newspapers use a strategy known as the inverted pyramid to present their news stories. Here is a look at the inverted pyramid writing structure.

Imagine a pyramid that is standing on its tip. That is structure that many news writers use. The idea of the inverted pyramid is that all the important information is available to the reader at the top of the article. The headlines, leads and first paragraphs all contain everything that they want to know. However, as the reader continues to read the article the information becomes less important, until the article ends.

Here is an example of a news story that would be structured and written in a style that uses the inverted pyramid.

There as a tragic double murder in the local apartment complex. A news writer that was using the inverted pyramid structure would start out the story with a headline that reads “Tragic Ending For Two Apartment Dwellers”. This headline grabs the attention of the readers and makes them want to start reading the news article.

The first sentence of the news story would read something like “Two residents living at the local apartment complex were murdered last Thursday. They were found dead by their neighbor”. Under the inverted pyramid structure this presents all the information that a reader could want to know about the news story. If the reader were to talk away from the article they would know all the important facts.

The rest of the article would focus on the murder but could talk about evidence that might have been found, suspects, who was involved or even an interview with the local police chief. While these facts have to deal with the story they are not as important to the reader or the story.

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Ideas to Defeat Writers Block

January 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

A blank page can not only be very disturbing, but also very uninspiring. Instead of letting the blankness of the page intimidate you, opt for the attitude found in the Tao’s un-carved block. The sky is the limit to the creativity you can put on a blank page. It has no boundaries except for that which you give it. Many people have their own methods for defeating writers block, but here are some ideas if your methods fail you. Hopefully, you haven’t tried all these yet.

Just Write

Some people get started by just writing whatever pops in their mind. It helps to play some instrumental rap music to get some rhythm going as that’s how rap artists free flow, but if you are writing prose, you may find yourself writing in rhyme by accident. Your first statements might be things like, “blue, fly, annoying you know what annoys me is when the husband…” Eventually, you will start making some sense, hopefully, and you can run with an idea from that.

Assign Yourself an Exercise

You can search online for different exercises writers often assign themselves such as different forms of poetry, writing in a certain style, or adding to a famous quote.

Google

Sometimes the mind just goes blank on what to write about, and if you have a broad topic in mind, enter that or any specific topic that falls under that for which you don’t want to write about, and browse the web for inspiration. Sometimes, you can find inspiration in images, links, advertisements, etc.

Outline

Sometimes you know the narrowed topic which you want to write about, but you just don’t know where to start. This is where an outline might come in handy. Create headings for Beginning, Middle, and End, and outline what material you want (and expect). It helps to think from the view point of the finished product first and then work backwards.

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It’s Hard to Say Goodbye

December 12, 2010 by Leave a Comment

As the writer in the family I am always given the “honor” of writing speeches for weddings, birthdays etc. I always wish everyone a happy birthday and send out all the baby congratualtions. I gladly accept the challenge of writing these things. I mean who amongst us isn’t up for a little challenge once in a while. Unfortunately, this means that I am also given the task of writing condolence cards. I never relish this onerous task.

I mean, how many ways are there really to say “I’m Sorry”. After you’ve actually said “I’m Sorry” it feels like there’s nothing else left to say. If the deceased was old or sick do you tell the loved ones that you’re glad the deceased is in a better place? What if the family doesn’t believe in heaven? They won’t get any consolation knowing that their loved on is in “a better place”. What if the person was a scoundrel and probably ended up in Hell? You can’t very well say, “All’s well that ends well”. It’s even worse if the person who died was young, or if the death happened suddenly. There are no words for that, so what do you write on the card?

In the past, I have resorted to quoting poetry. I love poetry, but most people think that poetry sounds hokey. Even I can admit that poems written about the dead are depressing. Wouldn’t people rather be cheered up? Isn’t death depressing enough without adding a poetic ballad into the mix? And if the poem is long, do people even bother reading it? What’s the point in scouring the internet for just the right poem if no one is even going to read it? As unoriginal as it may sound, I think that I’m going to stick with the tried and true “I’m Sorry.”

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Editing Interludes: Writing

November 29, 2010 by Leave a Comment
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It’s the temptation of commas, the struggle of hyphens – sentences are offered to a page, structured again and again. They mock with their imperfections, demanding constant revision. An introduction has been changed. A thesis has been narrowed, broadened and then shaped into an entirely different ideal. Adjectives are offered and then quickly retrieved (they offend with their lackluster descriptions, the too common meanings). You edit; you ponder; you edit once more. Hours are given to the cause of perfection and, when it’s finally achieved, you scribble out the next paragraph – and the process begins again.

This is an all too frequent mistake made by academics. The need to revise is overwhelming; and time is devoted to searching over sentences, trying to discover what can be improved. One simple replacement of a semi-colon can turn into an entirely new block of text. And minutes that should be offered to research are instead given to the too involved proofreading.

It is an easy assumption that all editing is to be done as words are inked out. Writers believe they can craft far better prose if they transform it as soon as it’s begun. This will leave no time for errors to settle onto the page, they think. It will instead offer convenience.

This is wrong.

Too often do these attempts at revision only distract – inspirations are lost; style is shifted into dull grammar; and the purpose of a paper is forgotten. There is no chance for genius, only the mechanical approach to forcing its appearance.

It is therefore strongly recommended that all writing is allowed to simply exist. Form a first draft that is drenched in mistakes to ensure it is also drenched in creativity. Do not pause to edit. Do not stall a sudden clever notion to adjust dashes. Instead offer every idea you wish to have and then redefine them. It enables you to utilize your own mind and create stronger papers.

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Forced Genius: Writing

November 26, 2010 by Leave a Comment
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It’s the most tragic of diseases, an infection that plagues the mind – you stare at a blank screen, with its infinite possibilities, the documents waiting to be formed. It should be such an easy thing to create prose, to turn nonsense into fact; and yet you can think of nothing to offer. There are no words that seem admirable. There are no ideas that seem worthy. All thoughts instead shape themselves into fickle creatures, unwilling to reveal themselves to you or your deadlines. You… have writer’s block.

And this was always assumed to be a myth. You’ve never struggled with sentences before. You believed such a thing could never occur – but it has. And you are left now with nothing but the looming hours, the assignments meant to fill them.

This an common complication, experienced by most would be writers within their scholastic careers. The mind betrays all intentions, leaving an individual helpless to craft the needed pages. And the temptation is to simply walk away – to leave all work behind and replace it with easier pastimes. There can be no gain, after all, in tapping out occasional ideas, dull words.

This is not true.

The only way to cure the dreaded writer’s block is to refuse to accept it. Whether you are trying to create fantastical worlds or are proving theories with research papers, you must continue to type; even when all efforts are clumsy. Force yourself to attempt a sentence. When that is finally completed, try to conquer the concept of a paragraph. The process will be undeniably tedious but it will still offer the reward of progress: you will have pages to show. This is important (not only for your deadline but for your own certainty).

Inspiration is too often confused to a swift thing, formed only under the ideal circumstances. It can, however, be instead the effect of slow rhythms and patience. Write and do not stop.

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Style or Structure: Writing

November 24, 2010 by Leave a Comment
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You have received an insult, a red ink smear. Your pages were branded inaccurate – all clever phrases deemed weak, all inventive punctuation refused. The stylish form you crafted (letting lyricism flow throughout the paragraphs, the perfect meet of fact and fantasy) has been noted as wrong; and the grade it’s received is far from the expected perfection. Your professor has named you instead a failure, and your paper is to be ignored by all.

There is far too great of an appeal is spicing history with sensationalism, in transforming dry text into a fascination. You wish to make writing interesting; and so you choose unexpected words and unique devices. You manipulate commas and colons. You change the accepted rules of grammar. This is not meant to be a slight against language. It’s instead to be an embracing of it. Your research is to become dynamic.

Too often, however, is it also to become a mistake.

Style over structure is a source of contention within the academic world. While most understand the desire to layer pages with the techniques of novels, more still understand the disaster this can bring – the purpose of a paper is lost, shaped into a fiction instead of a truth. It becomes an excess of punctuation changes and nonsensical ideas: entertaining but ultimately flawed.

It is therefore recommended that all writers choose to follow the established patterns, instead of forging new ones. While poetry and prose can allow you to experiment, research is meant instead to be given respect – and this includes taming all of your wilder grammatical instincts. The pages do not have to be brittle, simple recitations of statistics and percentages; but they do have to remain unbiased. Avoid the hyperbole and exclamations. The purpose is instead to convince through fact, not dazzle with empty style.

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