How to be a good writer

There are a couple of writer blogs out there that I like to check in on daily: The Urban Muse and The Renegade Writer. Both of them had a post today on how to be a successful writer.

The Urban Muse has a list for 5 Daily Practices for Successful Writing:

1. Read Every Day
2. Write Strictly for Yourself
3. Get Out
4. Connect With Others
5. Keep Working on Large Projects

I can't even begin to tell you how many of my intro level journalism students do not read the newspaper. It amazes me. They complain that I don't bring enough news story examples into class and I complain that they should be finding their own examples in the newspaper themselves. You cannot be a good writer if you are not a good reader.

The Renegade Writer poses the question of is a good writer born with their talent or do they develop it over time? This is what she came up with:

You don’t need innate talent to succeed at writing, but you do need plenty of ass-in-chair. You need to hone your grammar, read constantly (when you’re not writing, that is), study great writers, and write, write, write. If your grammar stinks, you need to study grammar. If your first draft is no good, you need to write a second draft — and a third, and a fourth.

And I agree. You don't find many journalists and novelists out there who don't love to write. If you love something it's easier to continuously work on it. This logic is why I am not a concert pianist, in the WNBA, or a scientist. I have always loved to write and, therefore, am a writer.

What do you think? Can you learn to be a good writer?

A book that all writers must keep on their shelves is William Zinsser's On Writing Well. I don't require it for my class (because I know most of my students won't read it) but I was required to read it for grad school and I'm so glad that I was. It's a great book filled with tons of great advice. I like to read it every other year or so just to remind myself of my goals. Get yourself a used copy and enjoy.

Journalist vs. Writer

Susan Johnston asks a great question on her blog The Urban Muse: Are you a journalist or a writer?

Before I headed back to grad school I considered myself a writer. I freelanced for a monthly music magazine and a monthly alternative paper, but I didn't think I was journalist material. I mean, journalists had connections - they had a nose for news. I just wrote what I was assigned.

That changed once I started grad school. There I was, living in New York City amongst daily newspapers and magazines galore. I learned how to get a good interview, how to do research, how to pitch my story ideas to editors, and write 5,000 word feature stories. I also learned how to read and analyze the news and how to blog about it. While in grad school I worked for a weekly trade publication, wrote daily stories for the website of a monthly magazine, freelanced for a few weekly city papers, and worked at a large daily newspaper.

I am a journalist.

I think being a journalist is more than posting your opinion about something on a blog. I hate the term "citizen journalists." These people don't follow any sort of rules or guidelines on their blogs. It's not that they're missing interviews or aren't writing in the inverted pyramid style. These people aren't even good op-ed writers. Or essayists.

Journalism is a trade. When I am writing a poem or a story I literally turn off the journalist in me and let someone else take over. That's why reading a novel and reading the newspaper are so different.

I'm not saying that being a writer is less than being a journalist, mind you. I would love to be able to write a novel, publish a collection of short stories, write poems that make other people think. But I'm good at the facts. I'll leave the imaginative creative writing to the writers.