Newsthinking: The Secret of Making Your Facts Fall into Place (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Written by an experienced editor and reporter, Newsthinking's unique approach to writing and real-world newsroom flavor combine to offer readers an exciting way to improve their newswriting. This book uses a brisk, conversational style to teach readers how to develop an individualized, more sophisticated organization routine for beginning the writing process. It is uniquely devoted to the writer's mental organization-the moments between the last scrawl in the reporter's notebook and the first stroke at the keyboard. Newsthinking brings years of experience and insight to readers and provides practical strategies for crafting great journalism. For beginning journalists, or anyone interested in improving their writing techniques.

From the Back Cover

Written by an experienced editor and reporter, Newsthinking's unique approach to writing and real-world newsroom flavor combine to offer readers an exciting way to improve their newswriting. This book uses a brisk, conversational style to teach readers how to develop an individualized, more sophisticated organization routine for beginning the writing process. It is uniquely devoted to the writer's mental organization-the moments between the last scrawl in the reporter's notebook and the first stroke at the keyboard. Newsthinking brings years of experience and insight to readers and provides practical strategies for crafting great journalism. For beginning journalists, or anyone interested in improving their writing techniques.

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon (June 14, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321087569
• ISBN-13: 978-0321087560
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #272,937 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical advice that is easy to follow, February 12, 2002

By	Mark A Stein (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

As an editor at The New York Times, I have seen how even the best and smartest reporting benefits from careful organization and precise writing. This book shows how to do it, in terms that speak to young writers, veteran journalists or anyone who wants to communicate with authority and engage readers with lively prose driven by facts.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best advice ever for writers, January 22, 2002

By	"wdavis321" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

Newsthinking by Bob Baker is aimed at journalists, and certainly they will get more benefit out of it than they would from a
4 year college course. But even more important, the advice here is essential for EVERY type of writer, not just journalists.
Baker teaches us how to see things from the READER's viewpoint, how to hold their interest, how to make your material a "must-read". This shouldn't even be called a "textbook". It is the polar opposite: it's lively, fun, and totally unpretentious.If you have any aspirations of being any kind of writer, this book will give you the edge you need to succeed. It did for me.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Helpful tips, excruciating read, January 11, 2002

By A Customer

This book attempts to help journalists figure out the thought process that goes into organizing stories. To that end, this is a helpful tool for anyone who has struggled to piece together all the facts of a complicated story as well as coaches who are helping writers organize their thoughts into a coherent, flowing series of sentences. The problem is that it also is a difficult read that is full of complicated flowcharts and takes a long time to get to the point. But if you can get through it, you will come away with a better understanding of just how it is you get from the notetaking stage to the printed page -- even if you've never thought about it before.