Writing Tips

“The Good Writer's Dazzlin' Dozen”
by Mackie Morris
• Write factually and accurately. The best technique and the finest form mean nothing if your copy's wrong.
• Write in the active voice. This technique makes your copy tighter, complete, easier to listen to, and more interesting. Do whatever you must to avoid the passive voice.
• Write in the present or present perfect tenses. They make your copy more immediate, and immediacy is more interesting. Avoid the word today. If you use past tense, make sure that you give a time reference to avoid confusion.
• Keep your writing simple. Choose positive forms over negative forms. Write one thought to a sentence. Don't search for synonyms; repetition is not a sin. Don't search for complicated, intellectual language. Give the audience the best possible chance to understand the story.
• Be complete and clear. In your quest for brevity and conciseness, don't omit necessary information.
• Be creative. Stick to the rules, but develop your own style. Try to say the same old thing in a different, new way. Make use of writing devices that make copy easier to listen to and more interesting, such as using the "rule of threes" (that is, grouping items by threes, such as red, white, and blue; left, right, and center; over, under, and through). Saying things in groups of three always sounds better. Pausing before saying the third item is even more effective.
• Write to be heard. Maintain a sense of rhythm in your writing. All life has rhythm, and rhythmic writing is easier to hear. Avoid potentially confusing homonyms. Always, always test your copy by reading it aloud.
• Avoid interruptives. Don't force the listener to make difficult mental connections. Put modifiers next to what they modify. Don't split verb phrases (split infinitives).
• Incorrect: Will eventually decide.
• Correct: Eventually will decide.
• Incorrect: Doctors only gave him six months to live.
• Correct: Doctors gave him only six months to live.
• Avoid commas. A comma demands a hitch in reading and the resulting jerkiness frustrates the listener. Avoiding commas also eliminates subordinate clauses. Such clauses kill the impact of copy, especially if they come at the top of a story or sentence.
• Avoid numbers. The listener has trouble remembering them.
• Avoid pronouns. If you must use a pronoun, make sure that the pronoun agrees with its antecedent and appears close to the antecedent. For example, "John Doe hit Bob Smith on the head and paramedics took him to the hospital." In this case, instead of him use Smith.
• Write to the pictures but not too closely to the pictures. Remember that more specific video requires more general writing, and vice versa. Utilize the touch-and-go method, wherein you write directly to the video at the beginning of a sequence, and then allow the writing to become more general with background information and other facts as the video continues.
Mackie Morris is a leading television news consultant and the former chair of the Radio-Television Sequence of the The Missouri School of Journalism.

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Writing Tips from Cyberjournalist.net

Writing advice, ideas, and great story examples from Dick Weiss of WeissWrite.com