HOW JOURNALISM
GUIDELINES CAN HELP FICTION WRITERS
If you ever took a journalism class, you know the basics
of writing nonfiction for newspapers and magazines. However, these basic tools
can also help you hone your fiction into tight, sharp writing that is both
clear and complete. This is, of course, especially important for short story
writers.
The basics are: who, what, where, when, why, and how.
Every journalism student has to memorize those words. Usually in that order.
Sometimes one or more can be left out, but it should be a conscious decision
with a good reason. Not long ago, for example, our local newspaper had an
article about making the city greener, and explained about an organization
giving away free trees in a few days. They did the who—the name of the
organization. The what--a giveaway of three trees to anyone who showed up; the
when--the date; the why--to make the city green. And the how--go and get the
trees. They left out one vital fact, however. The where. No address, no clue
about the location of the giveaway. So, both the reporter and the editor missed
something really important. Oddly enough, they reported on the event after it
was over (I believe this is yearly and they always give away the trees in the
same location), told how many trees were given away, and—you guessed it, the
location where it all took place. In this case, NOT better late than never.
The reader of fiction almost always needs all these
elements, too, for the story to make sense. Leave one vital part out, and
you’ve lost her. A good rule of thumb is to be sure you have them all there
when you are finished with all your edits. Because you may have put them all in
when you wrote the piece (or you may not have), and you may take something out
that was really needed, or miss that something was left out in the first place.
But if you look one last time for each element, you should be fine.
Jan Christensen ©2017
Jan Christensen lives and writes
in Corpus Christi, Texas now, after living on the road in an RV and writing
wherever she happened to land. She concentrates on mysteries, both short and
long. More about her here: www.janchristensen.com
Hi Jan,
ReplyDeleteYour suggestions are valid. I think fiction writers should follow journalistic guidelines.
Just the facts, ma'am. They count in fiction, too. Good advice, Jan.
ReplyDelete