The Journalist's Craft : A Guide to Writing Better Stories [Paperback]

Dennis Jackson (Author), John Sweeney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2002 | ISBN-10: 1581152221 | ISBN-13: 978-1581152227 | Edition: 1st

This is the perfect guide for anyone who wants to take his or her writing skills to a more engaging, professional level.

This inspiring collection of 19 essays from veteran news writers explains how to weave storytelling skills into nonfiction narratives. Journalists of all backgrounds and levels of experience will discover dozens of exercises that have been tested successfully in newsrooms, workshops, and classrooms, and will cover everything from the fundamentals of reporting, writing and revising to more specialized elements like creating rhythm, cadence, and voice; employing dialogue and scene-building; and such devices as foreshadowing, symbols, and metaphors. Contributors are all veteran journalists, including Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down, and several Pulitzer Prize-winners.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There are those who worry that newspaper journalists are a dying breed. "Take heart," says Hugh A. Mulligan in The Journalist's Craft. "A few Grub Street hacks are still required to fill in the blanks between that color-coded weather map and the diagram of the bomb that blew up the Federal Building in Oklahoma City." The 16 journalists whose words of wisdom are gathered in Dennis Jackson and John Sweeney's stellar guide for journalists are all veterans of the Wilmington Writers' Workshop. They report on finding good stories, writing nonfiction narrative, developing craft, and working with words. Among the book's many strong pieces is the memorable "Breaking Out from the Herd," in which Mulligan advocates getting out of the office and away from the pack of reporters covering a story. You'll unearth a completely unexpected story beyond the story--Mulligan's have included pieces on a flower-cart salesman after Princess Di's death and Rostropovich playing his cello near Checkpoint Charlie at the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the end, says Mulligan, "people make better copy than events." --Jane Steinberg

Review

"If you want to take your writing to the next level, this book belongs on your desk." -- Christopher Scanlan, Senior Faculty (Writing), The Poynter Institute and author, Reporting and Writing the News

"It will leave you itching to write." -- Geneva Overholser, syndicated columnist for the Washington Post Writers Group and Hurley Chair in Public Affairs Reporting, University of Missouri

"It's storytelling about storytelling from some masters in the business." -- William Woo, former Editor in Chief, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Lokey Professor, Stanford University

"This book feels real. It's rooted in the messy little struggle that every reporter goes through with every story." -- Bob Baker, Deputy Metropolitan Editor, the Los Angeles Times and author, Newsthinking

"This book offers insights and techniques from some of the best in the news business." -- Melvin L. Claxton, reporter for the Detroit News and 1995 Pulitzer Prize–winner for Public Service Reporting

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Allworth Press; 1st edition (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581152221
• ISBN-13: 978-1581152227
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #719,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like having a drink with the country's best writers, July 8, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Journalist's Craft : A Guide to Writing Better Stories (Paperback)

The Journalist's Craft is writers writing for writers -- and aspiring writers. Mark Bowden writes about how he researched his best-selling Blackhawk Down. Jim Naughton, a legend at the New York Times and at the Philadelphia Inquirer, talks about writer insecurity. John Sweeney, whose innovative writer's workshops made excellent coaching affordable even for small newspapers, explains how to tell a story so your listeners will stick around till the end. I especially loved Dennis Jackson's explanation of cadence. It was worth the price of the paperback just to read reporter extraordinaire Hugh Mulligan's recounting of the writing tips James Jones and John Steinbeck gave him.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A writing toolbox filled with tips, June 5, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Journalist's Craft : A Guide to Writing Better Stories (Paperback)

How can writers produce better stories? The Journalist's Craft provides a writing toolbox filled with tips, first person insights into nonfiction story writing, guides to narratives and influential works of nonfiction, and general surveys of the craft. An important, revealing handbook for any aspiring writer.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Journalist's Craft, July 4, 2009

By 

Timothy P. Monaghan "Tim Monaghan" (Maryland) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Journalist's Craft : A Guide to Writing Better Stories (Paperback)

hasn't helped me so far, but that could change, I flipped through it and ... so far it hasn't met up to its reviews, at least to me -- how to hook a reader, and keep them engaged, but I may just need to red more of the essays