... if you want to write something worth reading.
That's from Pulitzer Prize winner and former
Boston Globe columnist
Eileen McNamara.
33 There is no substitute for being there. "It's about boots on the street." No matter what you're writing about, it won't be good unless you get out there and know it.
"The best writing that you do comes when you go out and smell and touch it and see it."
34 "You can overwrite, but you can't over-report." Stay away from adverbs and adjectives. "You should be in agony that have so many great things in your notebook that you can't put in the story."
35 If you have a limited amount of time, spend as much of it as you can reporting.
36 "Read the damn clips." Newspapers are losing their institutional memory. Report the story that's happening now,
and tell the readers about the story that happened a decade ago.
37 Pay little attention to the public relations folks. "They're not paid to tell you anything important." But be nice to them, "or they won't let you in."
Coming soon >>> Learning about leads. Lunch break. John Sweeney on how newsrooms are changing.
