JOURNALISTIC WRITING AND LITERARY WRITING

WHAT IS WRITING

Writing is all that gives rise to an message in general. In Western Culture writing is often only considered as the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols (known as a writing system). Writing may use abstract characters that represent phonetic elements of speech, as in Indo-European languages, or it may use simplified representations of objects or concepts, as in east-Asian and ancient Egyptian pictographic writing forms. However, it is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio. Since writing is a means of communication like listening it involves a writer (producer) and a reader (receiver). Communication through writing involves negotiation or interaction between the writer (encoder) and the reader (decoder), the text, context and task.

Literary writing is, in essence, a 'response', a subjective personal view which the writer expresses through his themes, ideas, thoughts, reminiscences, using his armoury of words to try to evoke, or provoke, a response in his reader.

Communication writing in addition means the use of orthography in order to construct grammatically correct sentences which communicate a meaning to the reader. Orthography + lexis + grammar + meaning = Communicative writing

 JOURNALISTIC WRITING

Journalistic writing is the prose style used for news reporting in media such as newspapers, radio and television. News style encompasses not only vocabulary and sentence structure, but also the way in which stories present the information in terms of relative importance, tone, and intended audience.

News writing attempts to answer all the basic questions about any particular event - who, what, when, where and why (the Five Ws) and also often how - at the opening of the article. This form of structure is sometimes called the "inverted pyramid," to refer to the decreasing importance of information in subsequent paragraphs.

 FORMS OF JOURNALISTIC WRITING

There are approx six (06) forms of journalistic writing:-

ü    News writing

ü    Editorial writing

ü    Feature writing

ü    Column writing

ü    Review writing

ü    Interview writing

1.          NEWS WRITING:    It is defined as an information about an event, idea or opinion that is timely and that affects and interest a large number of people in a community and that is capable of being understood by them. A news must fulfill the following requirements:-

It should not have been published anywhere before.

It should come to the readers for the first time.

A news must relate in one way or the other to the human activity

It should have an element of interest for the readers.

It should impart some sort of information or education to the readers.

It should be concise and accurate

The main characteristics of the News Writing are:-

Accuracy

Balance

Objectivity

Concise and Clear

Current

2.         EDITORIAL WRITING:     The editorial is the soul of the newspaper. An editorial is an article that presents the newspaper's opinion on an issue. It reflects the majority vote of the editorial board, the governing body of the newspaper made up of editors and business managers. It is usually unsigned. Much in the same manner of a lawyer, editorial writers build on an argument and try to persuade readers to think the same way they do. Editorials are meant to influence public opinion, promote critical thinking, and sometimes cause people to take action on an issue. In essence, an editorial is an opinionated news story.

Editorials have:

Introduction, body and conclusion like other news stories

An objective explanation of the issue, especially complex issues

A timely news angle

Opinions from the opposing viewpoint that refute directly the same issues the writer addresses

The opinions of the writer delivered in a professional manner. Good editorials engage issues, not personalities and refrain from name-calling or other petty tactics of persuasion. 

Alternative solutions to the problem or issue being criticized. Anyone can gripe about a problem, but a good editorial should take a pro-active approach to making the situation better by using constructive criticism and giving solutions.

A solid and concise conclusion that powerfully summarizes the writer's opinion. Give it some punch.

Kinds of Editorials

ü          Civic editorials

ü          Policy editorials

ü          Big News editorials

ü          Obituary editorial

3.         FEATURE WRITING:        A newspaper feature is an article which finds its impact outside or beyond the realm of the straight news story’s basic and unvarnished (with nothing added) who-what-where-when-why and how. The justification, strength and very identity of the feature lie in its presentation of the imagination not, however, in departing from or stretching the truth (not being completely honest), but in piercing the peculiar and particular truths that strike people’s curiosity, sympathy, skepticism, humour or amazement.

Writing a Feature

Structure: A feature is seldom written in the traditional inverted-pyramid pattern. The main point, always in the lead of a news story, may be withheld until the end as a climax. Or the feature may be written in a narrative fashion, much like a good joke or anecdote.

Organise carefully. First decide what the theme is. Then carefully outline the subpoints so they will support the theme. The good feature requires as much organisation as the straight news story, for the feature has to flow smoothly. News stories can be cut without severely damaging the sense, but generally all the parts of a feature story must be kept intact if it is to succeed. A good test is to cut paragraphs from the body of a feature. If the story doesn’t suffer from the cut, then the paragraphs probably aren’t necessary. In the well-planned story, every paragraph -- every sentence — should add to the total effect.

Leads: The lead must attract immediate attention and pull the reader into the story. Leads can vary in style and content. You can use description, narration, dialogue, questions, unusual statements, call to action, comparison-contrast.

Transition: No matter how good the lead is, you need a solid transition into the body of the feature. It makes the reader want to continue. And it promises some kind of reward or satisfaction. The reward can be entertainment, information or self-awareness but has to be something of value to the reader.

Body: Sound knowledge of the subject, coupled with good writing skills, will let you take the reader through a variety of experiences. You should use the standard writing devices of crisp dialogue, documentable but vivid (of memories, a description producing very clear pictures in your mind) fact and detail, careful observation, suspense and, if appropriate, plot.

Conclusions: The conclusion should give the reader a sense of satisfaction. You need to tie the conclusion to the lead so the story has unity. Often you can do this through a short, tight summary. Occasionally, you can conclude with an anecdote or a quote that sums up the substance of the story.

4.         COLUMN WRITING:         The personal opinion of a column writer is expressed on a subject in a column. The writer has a fixed style of writing and he generally writes on fixed subjects and has fixed point of view. However, there are columns in a newspaper where other persons also contribute in audition to the columnist who writes on a variety of subjects such as political, economic or cultural or on sports, radio, films, books etc.

5.         REVIEW WRITING:            The critics write reviews on a variety of subjects such as books, plays, art, films, television and radio programmes etc. While writing reviews the critics should keep in mind that they are not writing for themselves, but are addressing the readers. Any attempt therefore, to project too much of the critics own viewpoint, or to criticize the work for the sake of criticism or for the sake of controversy would not enhance the value of the writing.

6.         INTERVIEW WRITING:    For preparing news stories and features it si necessary to interview different people. As such interviewers should  know the different types of interviews and also the techniques of successful interviewing.

v    Interview for getting facts or News Interview

v    Interview for opinions or Symposium or Group Interview

v    Personality Interview

THE TERM LITERARY WRITING

The term 'literary writing' calls to mind works by writers such as Shakespeare, Milton, or Wordsworth; definitive examples of all that the term implies. A piece of literature differs from a specialised treatises on astronomy, political economy, philosophy, or even history, in part because it appeals, not to a particular class of readers only, but to men and women; and in part because, while the object of the treatise is simply to impart knowledge, one ideal end of the piece of literature, whether it also imparts knowledge or not, is to yield aesthetic satisfaction by the manner of which it handles its theme.

Literary writing, having creative and artistic intent, is more carefully structured and uses words for the rhetorical effect of their flow, their sound, and their emotive and descriptive qualities. Literary writers can also employ tone, rhyme, rhythm, irony, dialogue and its variations such as dialects and slang, and a host of other devices in the construction of a particular prose work, poem, or play.