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An article written on Suite101 on the steps involved in successful news coverage.
Entries Tagged as ‘Articles on Writing’
July 27, 2009
Guidelines for Reporting News
October 5, 2008
The problem with Internet English
The problem with Internet English
10/5/08
Kenneth Burchfiel
I have always been one of those hopelessly traditional people that capitalizes their text messages, makes sure to use apostrophes correctly when writing an e-mail and says “whom” in message boards. That is my confession: I’m behind the times enough that I still care about mechanics on the world wide [...]
October 1, 2008
Ten Mindless Minutes
Ten Mindless Minutes
A Short Example of Freewriting
10/1/08
Kenneth Burchfiel
[The following was churned out between 11:35 p.m. and 11:45 p.m. one Wednesday evening. It is a freewritten piece, meaning that I typed more or less continuously for the duration of the exercise without pausing and thinking about what to say. Thus—given that I wrote without stopping to [...]
September 29, 2008
Sourdough Writing
Sourdough Writing
9/29/08
Kenneth Burchfiel, WSTFTHS
Within every story lies a literary “sweet spot”: a point where the theme clicks, the writing flows and the ideas presented resonate with the reader. In many stories—well-written ones, at least—that center point happens to be the climax or thesis of the piece, exactly where the writer wants it.
Many stories, however, are [...]
September 28, 2008
10 Myths about Editorial Writing
10 Myths about Editorial Writing
9/28/08
Kenneth Burchfiel
Opinion writing is boring. “Editorialists” get to voice their own opinion and speak out about issues that matter to them. Personal feelings and thoughts are not discouraged, but encouraged. Besides, the topics one gets to discuss are usually relevant and important to them.
Editorial writers have it easy. Columnists and opinion [...]
September 18, 2008
Writing in Fourth Person
Writing in 4th Person
9/18/08
Kenneth Burchfiel
It has become more or less assumed, in most circles, that three distinct ways exist to narrate a story: first person, second person (used mainly for direct addresses), and third person. It has always appeared a comprehensive list, more or less, given that there are only three pronouns—I, they, and you—to [...]
August 6, 2008
Backwards Creativity
Backwards Creativity
8/7/08
Kenneth Burchfiel
As I walked past the chessboards at Dupont Circle in Washington, an idea came to me for a spy story opening. Two operatives in a public area would make themselves known to each other by moving the pawns, one after another, on an unoccupied board. That would be their means of verifying [...]
