Everything I Learned About Writing Came After Journalism School

A few years after completing a bachelor's degree in journalism and finally landing a writing job, I realized that I knew nothing about writing. I could compose complete sentences and I was trained in the style of finding the who, what, where and why in a story and then piecing it together in an inverted pyramid. The most important aspect of the story should be in the first two to three sentences.

Instructors were always careful to point out that nobody reads past the first paragraph anyway, so make sure what needs to be said is said before they are gone. This fact is only aggravated by the Internet and its multitude of shiny links waiting to be clicked. If my instructors are right, the majority of readers who clicked on this article are now long gone by the time this sentence is complete.

In the two years of actual journalism coursework in college, style and form where never discussed. I have spoken with graduates from other journalism colleges and they all stressed the same problem. Once they graduated, they had the tool box with all the nuts and bolts of writing, but they had no idea how to write something people would actually want to read.

I am extremely lucky to have found a writing job where I am surrounded by people who have been writing for many years. They also have the time and personal interest in my success to sit down with me and evaluate my work - both as a reporter and a writer.

Maybe it stings to hear your boss say, "Well this sucks, nobody will want to read it." The thing is - he is right. Nobody will read it. Now I have to find the story that people will be interested in and write it a way that doesn't turn off the interested parties. There is a benefit to magazine writing. The reader is sitting down with a tangible item and making an investment in time to look through the magazine. Quality headlines and informative leads may grab their eyes, but it is possible to keep the reader's attention until the last word.

This is done by incorporating multiple sources, finding the useful quotes and making sure every sentence has as much quality information in it as possible. Not that you should write long, drawn out sentences, but that each sentence says something.

Article and news writing is much more of an art than journalism schools are giving it credit for. "Just the Facts" might work for the cops but fickle and busy readers need something a little more. Hopefully it can be something with a little class and substance.