Writing.
For some it’s a chore performed in school alone, ordered to be done by harsh,
relentless teachers who seem to fail to understand that you have more important
things to do. After all, that social life isn’t going to create itself, is it?
But for some of us, writing is more than just homework or tests. Writing is an
escape from reality, delivering the promise of hope, understanding, tomorrow,
and improvement of vocabulary, spelling, and grammar skills. This follows true
for me, personally, in the writing done at school as well as pieces completed
in my spare time. And as far as the articles for Online Publishing are
concerned, I have a relatively simple process.
It
starts out with interest. No good article was ever published that didn’t have
at least a little bit of the author’s heart inside, and usually it’s a bit
easier to lend a part of yourself to something you’re passionate about. What
the passion is doesn’t matter. News stories about professional sports teams
winning their last game of the season can be made just as interesting to read
and to write as articles narrating an escaped prisoner of war’s experiences. So
my first suggestion is to think of something that you actually enjoy, whether
it’s volleyball, Friends of the Planet club, Prom, or the latest discovery in
cancer research. I would personally recommend thinking of an idea that can be
written about more than once with relative ease. For example, you could easily
follow a sport team’s progress through a season or write a seven-part series
about the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. Writing about prom seven or eight
times? Not so easy and not so entertaining after the first two articles. I
myself have found success in alternating topics that I can write over and over
again, choosing to write half of my articles about a particular awareness (ex:
April is Stress Awareness Month). The other half of my articles consists of
in-depth research about professions that students can earn after leaving high
school. The most important thing to remember about any article topic: Make sure
you can find enough information so that it’s both interesting to read and
relatively informational as well.
Unfortunately,
writing a good article isn’t just about being enthusiastic about the subject
material. You actually have to gather the information about it. If you’re
writing an article about something that happens within the school, such as
Donate Life Club’s blood drive or a sports team, the information you gather
should already be okay to put into an article. However, when writing about
other topics, such as Awareness months, it’s important to try to find reputable
sources. False information in an article isn’t good for you, for the readers,
or for your grade. Don’t be lazy. Do the research.
After
that, it’s all about putting the information into a format that reads well.
Forming complete sentences that reads like actual English (as opposed to the
slang-infested nonsense that today’s youth insist upon inserting into any and
all written documents) is important, as are attempts to use an accepted form of
spelling and grammar. All of this makes it a bit easier for your editor to
complete his/her job. With these tips in mind, writing an article for The
Bulldog – or any other newspaper – should be a piece of cake!
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