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"Against the ruin of the world, there is only one defense -- the creative act."
About Me
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- Apocalypse Mambo
- Bukowski's "A Little Atomic Bomb"
- Desk Space
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24 comments:
So people are always telling me that I am just bursting with great ideas, advice, and stories, and that I have a way of seeing things, which was one of the main reasons I decided to go into the field of Journalism, but my down fall I would have to say is my sentence structure and spelling! I know that sounds crazy for a college student on my level to have these problems, and want to pursue Journalism; but it is true I am guilty as charged!
I believe that if I can improve my grammar and spelling then this would make my work more compelling and helping me to reach the level of profession that I aspire to reach, which is working with major magazine companies and maybe writing a tell all book! Lol!
Accomplishing this goal I do however will be simple, if I just continue to read more, and do constant writing, than not only will my sentence structure and spelling improve, but also I will expand my vocabulary allowing me to use words that will help my many readers visualize and digest my work better.
Hello All!
My biggest concern about my writing is that I tend to get caught up in the style of my writing, leaving me with a story that sounds good, but has no substance. It's a problem I've always had with my writing. My background as a visual artist has got me so anal about structure, the visual nature of the story.
The way I have to go about dealing with this, I think, is to do more reporting than I used to, so I have a better sense of what I want to write and what I want to say before I start writing. I've finally learned that I should have something to say instead of stringing words together. What a realization!
My most important goal for my writing is to be able to write on my own. Last semester in Literature of Journalism, I wrote a well-written story, but it took class edits and multiple drafts and input to move it in a direction. I'm all for constructive criticism and feedback, but I want to write a story that doesn't require a homework assignment. Also this past semester's story was personal. While therapeutic, I want to write a story that doesn't directly involve me, or if it does, it's not my self-history. Instead, the story would be about an event, another person or just something insightful. I'm in agreement with Jovan about spelling and grammar. As much as some of my writing comes naturally and I can read and formulate sentences, I don't understand why I write the way I do. I don't know many rules to writing, its just years of writing in school and on my own that I write the way I do. I'd like to know this language. I want to understand the meaning behind the words, punctuation, sentence structure. I think the way I'd accomplish all this to really just ask a lot of questions and take risks in my writing, even if what I write is shit because I couldn't form a sentence. At least I'd know for next time what to improve. Also, I have a grammar book from my Copy Editing and Layout class last year that I should make my best friend.
The goal for my writing is and has always been, not specifically to be perfect, but to progress and also find things I didn’t know were there. I want to receive new tools to allow me to access either a voice I didn’t know I had, to make the voice I have grow stronger. After taking Literature of Journalism two semesters ago, I found that it allowed me to constantly reexamine a single piece of work. I had always simply written something, and then allowed myself to look over it a few times, before dismissing it or finding it mediocre, or being satisfied with the piece as it was and not always seeing how I can take it farther. When I took Literature of Journalism I found that the feedback from the professor as well as the class was helpful in showing me strong points and weak points, and gave me more insight into what parts of my writing could be omitted or further developed. I admit that I haven’t been writing much lately, and have only recently realized that that frustrates me. After going abroad I would like to see if I have new stories and new perspectives to write about. So, I’m hoping this semester will bring about change and development in my writing.
Hello Everyone,
Among many other writings concerns, my greatest is that I will not be a good enough writer in the future to make it “big” (or just past a small-time writer). My personal thoughts about what makes someone a good writer of course include proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation use. But along with those is the ability to use my imagination and express it well and in an interesting way. Usually, my writing is average (sometimes even below) but my goal is to come out of this class with above average story writing skills. I want to be able to write pieces with substance, not just straight-forward pieces that leave readers bored. Also, I would like to expand my vocabulary. Using fancy words isn’t something I usually care about, but I’d like to be able to relate to other writers who do care to use words that aren’t typically used in the common article, story, or conversation.
I plan to work toward my goals of writing more interesting and creative pieces, and expanding my vocabulary by reading a lot more than I currently do, and trying my best to take greater interest in my journalism courses.
My goal for my writing is to make it relatable to others. While the things I write are often interesting to me, I suspect that just as often they aren't to others. It's difficult for me to brainstorm an idea that will grab and keep a reader's attention. I want to be able to engage readers and have them enjoy, or at least identify a little bit, with my pieces. I also tend to over-write and I'd like to gain enough confidence to cut the fat from my writing on my own. One last thing...being published wouldn't be horrible!
In this class, I hope to accomplish two things with regards to my writing. First, I hope to improve the way that I describe narrative events. I feel that I have an adequate grasp of how to write expositionally, whether it be the description of an idea or the description of an object, but the way that I describe a series of events needs work. Also, as the unnecessarily baroque sentence above suggests, the conciseness of my sentence structure needs work. Journalistic writing strives to be concise, and, moreso than other forms of writing, describes narrative, real-world events. If I simply throw myself into this class, I believe improvement in these two fields will come naturally.
Last semester, I replied to this very same question in the original Lit of Journalism blog expressing the desire of having a writing style that was "a thrilling voice clothed in a business suit." Well, with that semester behind me, I gaze at my style now and see that very image, an often unpredictable voice that's confined with the finest padded walls (compliments to the teachings of Good and Hermes to getting me here) Thing is, as satisfied as I am with my growth, something is just not right. Does the color of the suit make my style seem fat? Where did that top-hat come from? I think there's a stitching error, sir.
If I've gotten to this point, the new goal now is "refinement." I want to tweak and perfect the voice that I have developed; hell, maybe try out some new writing styles and see what atmospheres my words can journey to. Perfection won't be guaranteed (there's always that one ill-fitting pocket), but I'd love to get the next best thing to it.
Hey guys, I can't believe we're back already!
I know that I'm a decent writer because otherwise I would not have made it this far. However, I don't want to settle for decent, I want my writing to evolve into a style that is distinctly my own and lets me stand out from the crowd. I think we all want this and can accomplish this, figuring out how is the tricky part.
My biggest goal is to expand my vocabulary without help from Microsoft Word Thesaurus. To do this, I plan to read as much as time permits. I also want to try to get as much out of the class readings, discussions and blog entries as possible. Learning from the rest of you will be key to reaching my semester and career goals! With regard to the story I will tell this semester, I hope to find a topic or event that will lend itself well to my style of writing and personal interests. What this is, I have no idea.
This semester, I hope to improve my writing by including more reporting in my pieces. It was really fun writing a piece based solely on my own opinion last semester, but I feel like it could have benefitted more from other voices. Even when I report in other journalism classes, I tend to put my own spin on it, which is good, but could use more facts.
I look forward being able to tell someone else's story this semester and learning as much as I can about it on a bigger scaled. I am interested in uniting people's voices and presenting them to the world in a powerful and moving way.
Sorry to interrupt. . . But a few of you have raised the subject of, well, your subject for this semester's story. . . We'll talk more about this over the next week, but I'd like you to begin thinking about whether we should take a concept or event or place or person and divide aspects of it up among ourselves. . . I'm not trying to be prescriptive; however, like many of you, I want to see you base your story on more actual reporting than last semester's stories generally required. . . Some ideas (off the top of my head, which, as you know, is exposed to debilitating ultra-violet rays): recession, obama, technology. . .
I think the biggest thing I’ve needed to work on in my stories is my tendency to wander along the path of “flowery” language, plucking words, phrases, and sentences that are appealing to me, and that as some have mentioned, aren’t usually included in journalistic stories. Now, I know this isn’t necessarily a bad trait. As a fact, some of you have mentioned your desire to include fancy language, but the thing I need to really focus on is when and how to include this pretty lingo and still have a concise (when needed), intelligent and interesting story.
I too need to work on my reporting and researching skills as Kimmy, Nicole and others have mentioned, so I have a decent idea of what thoughts and personalities I want to offer my readers before I sit down to actually write about them.
I think the thing that I want to improve this semester in my writing is the style. When I write I feel like the narrator is very disconnected from the characters in the story. I just write what happens and it's very short and cold, there's not a lot of emotion that's put forth. I noticed that I do this with all of my writing. I do enjoy the way that I write but I would like to be able to change it if I have to instead of being so monotonous and having everything sound the same.
I also would like to work on my vocabulary. The words that I choose in my writing gets the point across but sometimes it's not enough and I would like to convey more to my readers.
I guess accomplishing either of these tasks can be done best by just reading and writing as much as I can. I don't really see any other ways that will help me. I need to be exposed to other elements and other authors to be able to change anything of my own.
During the course of this semester, I plan to focus on two areas of my writing which may need some improving. First, in the past I have found that sometimes some of my sentences drag on longer then they have to, and I have on occasion to be a little repetitive. In order to correct this I plan to focus on writing graphs that are more concise and to the point. Also I have found that my grammar has been an issue at times, which I simply plan to keep an eye out for and work on correcting.
Hey everyone,
I guess my biggest problem in writing is my confidence. So my top goal for this semester is to learn how to be more confident with my writing. I know that I have the ability to a good writer but I always stop myself before I get to something good. I hope that this semester I can let go of some of those fears about my writing and really engulf myself in whatever I decide to write in. If I learn how to be more confident in my writing, I know I can produce a good story. I'd also, as everyone has mentioned, like to work on my grammar and style a bit more so I can gain more confidence. My ideas are good, but they don't always transfer well to the page. If I can figure out ways to make my ideas really come to life then I can consider this semester very successful.
Phhhhzz...where to start. Other then actually writing more, I think I need to work on reviewing my work more concisely and making sure the flow of ideas translates more smoothly from my head to the paper and back into someone else's head. I also want to work more on the "less is more" concept, making scenes more vivid, and characters more three dimensional without the use of cliches, over simplifications, pop-up books or dioramas. I'm also going to work on listening more to situations to find the news worthiness in everything. A laundry list which needs much detergent.
I think that I really have one main goal for my writing at this point in time: write less and say more. I know that when I write I get bogged down in details and say things I don't need to. It just slows my narrative down. I want to change that. I want my narratives to be quick, interesting and spewing with meaning in as few words as possible. I also want to broaden my vocabulary a bit so maybe i can use other words to express my meaning in less time.
I intend to do this by reading as much as humanly possible, especially literary journalism. Also I plan to edit my stories more carefully so I can try to find and cut unnecessary words and phrases on my own in hopes of learning to eliminate them the next time I write.
Hello everyone!
When thinking about a goal for the semester, at first I wasn't completely sure what mine is for this class. I am constantly trying to improve my writing, but what is one goal that I hope to achieve? I think that over the course of the semester I hope to improve not only my "voice" in my stories, but also to successfully translate the voices of others to the page. I hope some day in the future that I will be working for a magazine writing human interest stories. If through my writing I can tell the stories of others successfully, then I will be happy.
What I hope to improve on in my writing, like some of you have said before me, is to expand my vocabulary a bit more. Overall, I am very open to constructive criticism, and hope to accomplish my goal in this class through all of your feedback.
This semester I hope to take my writing to a new level by introducing new rhetorical techniques into my style of writing. By the end of the semester I hope to be able to write eloquently and vividly, being able to describe a scene or situation with the great accuracy and detail. I would also like to improve upon my grammar and spelling, as I have always had a tough time in these areas. I believe that through reading the works of eloquent authors and trying to match their skill in works of my own that I can increase the proficiency of my writing and ultimately become a more skilled and talented writer.
I think last semester I was able to begin to write more succinctly and this semester I want to become more confident with my use of dialogue in stories and I want to become better about choosing what details I should and shouldn't include. I also still feel like I'm entirely sure what my own personal voice is. I mean when writing reviews it's easy for me to be sarcastic and critical. But even when writing the Lt of J piece last semester, I wasn't confident that I had an interesting voice coming through in that piece.
Rereading the paragraph I just wrote, I realize what my most important goal is: to gain confidence in my writing.
I have been thinking for a while now what my biggest goal was for my writing this semester. The most important thing to me is to write a piece of very substantial writing that deals with an important issue of our current times. Beyond that, I am not really sure what else to say. I can’t point to exactly what I want to write about yet, but I know I want it to be big. Something that many people would read and be like, “Wow, this was an insightful look into (fill in the blank).” What I want to work on in improving my writing is to learn more about Gonzo journalism and further establish my own voice. I would love if we could read more of Hunter S. Thompson’s work, or current writers that embrace a Gonzo style. I have become less reserved in my writing, with what I say and don’t say, and I think I need to continue doing that.
Hey.
I'd like to better develop an ability to universalize personal experiences. I've had many things in my life happen that could be turned into very effective stories with something to say if I can shape them properly. What tends to be lacking is the ability to take what was profound to me and tell it in such a way that others can relate to it. The overarching plots of what I write are always more difficult me then the sentence to sentence writing.
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