Good Writing

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Good Writing

• Advanced Reporting and Writing
• Journalism and Media Studies Centre
• The University of Hong Kong
• Gene Mustain

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Good Writing

• A sentence should contain no unnecessary words,
  for the same reason that a drawing should have no
  unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary
  parts. This requires not only that the writer
  make all his sentences short, or that he avoid
  all detail and treat his subject only in outline,
  but that every word tell.
• The Elements of Style

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Good Writing

• The media serve a large, diverse audience to
  reach more people, media writers must present
  information in a clear and simple, yet
  interesting, way. Every word tells.

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Good Writing

• Good media writing is more than the use of simple
  words. It is
• Using the correct words.
• Composing sentences carefully.
• Finding a tone that matches the material a
  dignified tone, for instance, for the story of a
  funeral one of awe for a dramatic rescue one of
  joy for someone who beats the odds.

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Writing Tips

• 1) In general, keep sentences short. But vary
  their length too.
• Short sentences pack power. They are dramatic.
• Short, medium, long, short, medium -- variety
  yields rhythm, and keeps the reader moving
  through the story.

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Writing Tips

• 2) Simple sentences, not complex.
• Simple Tung, now in his second term, may not
  stand for re-election.
• Complex Tung, now in his second term, may not
  stand for re-election, but he has made no
  official announcement, perhaps because he and
  others believe an early statement gives
  pro-Democracy legislators too much time, three
  years, to paint him as a lame duck and to mount
  their own campaigns.

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Writing Tips

• 3) Use words people know.
• Do not send people to the dictionary. Dont give
  them reasons to put your story down.

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Writing Tips

• 4) Dont use unnecessary words, as this paragraph
  does.
• A metal-working factory in Yuen Long where a
  powerful blast yesterday afternoon killed three
  workers and injured four other laborers has been
  found to have had failed several types of safety
  inspections last year. (35 words)

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Writing Tips

• How about this?
• A Yuen Long factory where an explosion
  yesterday killed three and wounded four flunked
  several safety inspections last year. (19 words
  -- 16 less)

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Writing Tips

• 5) Use active voice use strong verbs.
• Active A leaking gas cylinder triggered the
  explosion.
• Passive The explosion was caused by a leaking
  gas cylinder.

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Writing Tips

• 6) Write the way most people talk direct and
  plain, NOT like this
• The manager of a money-lending firm, who pleaded
  guilty to dishonestly appropriating 2.4 million
  from his employer, was described by two
  Democratic Party legislators as a honest man
  with many good qualities.

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Writing Tips

• How about this?
• Two Democratic Party legislators said the
  money-lender who stole 2.4 million from his boss
  seemed like a honest man.

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Writing Tips

• 7) Use words that help readers see, rather than
  go to sleep, as these do
• The first and only International Anti-Corruption
  Newsletter is being published on the Internet by
  the Independent Commission Against Corruption
  (ICAC) to help overseas agencies fighting crime
  and corruption.

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Writing Tips

• How about this?
• Hong Kongs corruption watchdog is publishing the
  first Internet newsletter for helping cops around
  the world catch crooks.

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Writing Tips

• 8) Develop your own style and voice.
• From Elements of Style Every writer, by the
  way he/she uses language, reveals something of
  their spirit, their habits, their capacity and
  bias.Put your own brand on your writing.

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Writing Tips

• 9) Try to express, not impress.
• Writing is an act of ego, but your goal is to
  express ideas, not to try and impress people. So
  use simple, clear language (no matter the venue).
  When you try to show off what you know and your
  way with words, it will turn readers off and
  leave you without any.

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Writing Tips

• Best tip for last
• 10) After youre done, rewrite it. And then
  rewrite it againand again!!