The beginning of every semester is always tedious, with professors of overcrowded journalism classes struggling to cater to both nervously inexperienced underclassmen as well as the hot-shit "I already have a writing job" students. Yesterday's meeting of JMC 330, for example, consisted of a painful 1.5 hour review of "the keys to good journalism" that left me bitter and bored. As such, I will now sadistically (albeit briefly) reproduce that very information for those of you who may be ignorant to the facts, yet are still aspiring to partake in the Unofficial 2008 TMT Reader News Story Pledge Drive (if you can't say that 6 times fast, you ain't ready to play with the big boys) as recklessly proposed by a TMT staffer yesterday at approximately 9 AM CMT.
There are a few very simple rules for ensuring that your article qualifies as "good journalism." By following these rules, you can create an outline that you may surround with fluff and details -- and voila, a well-rounded article. Don't worry -- being witty, clever, creative, endlessly informed, and intensely talented all come later.
To start the class session of which I'm recreating, the anonymous professor gave the either intensely clever or painfully idiotic advice that, "to write something great, you must first start writing." Writing what, you may ask? Some people begin by making a general outline and then going back to fill in the gaps, while others start from the top and work their way down until they're done. I personally, cannot write a single word until I have a solid lead. So if one were writing an article about, say, a Pinback tour, one may want to start from the top with something like this:
Whether you've been listening since 1998's This Is A Pinback Album or only just picked up their latest release Autumn of The Seraphs (TMT Review), every Pinback song feels instantly familiar, playing like the soundtrack to a High School memory of an aimless summer road trip with your girlfriend in the driver's seat, best friend in the backseat, and an empty pack of Djarums in the center console, which you now vehemently deny ever smoking. Or maybe that's just me.
With an established lead, you'll now need three or more sources with which to flesh out the piece. Optimally, these sources will be credible experts on the subject and should say everything so that you don't have to. Your roommate, by the way, does not count as a credible source on anything, ever, no matter how sagely they may seem after you've both lit up.
"Pinback is shamelessly indulgent indie pop," said Esteban Svenska, age 22, when asked his opinion of the San Diego subterranean heroes. "It's for people who take pictures of their sneakers to post on their MySpace profiles. That said, I'm a huge fan."Others when approached were equally torn on the subject. "Autumn of The Seraphs sounded way overproduced," said Eve McClain*, age 27, "too clean for me. But the first single off the album was drummed by that guy Mario from Earthless, which I'm cool with."
"I heard they're touring." said Jeff Dalwick, age 20, refusing to comment much further, "I don't actually know that much about the band."
Three sources: check. But you're not done yet. Like sex, baseball, and important business commitments, follow-through is important, so you may want to include supplemental data that supports you and your sources' assertions.
Said a press release sent out by the band's label, "Pinback is back from their European tour and anxious to reconvene with their West Coast chums. The band will be kicking out the jams starting February 5 for two nights at Chula Vista's House of Blues. They'll continue up and down the coast for two weeks and then head over to Japan for three dates in late February."Hear the new single from Autumn of Seraphs here.
And that's when the lecture ended and I rolled my eyes and said to the guy sitting next to me, "Thank fucking god," to which he replied defensively, "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" making me feel awkward and effectively expediting my departure.
Oh shit. Yeah, don't forget to list the tourdates. That would be amateur of you.
Pinback, Rocking Your Body The Way You Like It:
* my roommate, who's an exception to the rule because she actually is a credible expert on everything at all times.
