Reporter and screenwriter Skip Hollandsworth spoke to student journalists at the 2012 Gloria Shields Publications Workshop in July. He gave GREAT advice.
- Learn the rhythm of a good sentence.
- Type of famous writers? work to learn that rhythm.
- I don?t have droughts. I?m not allowed. The insurance man doesn?t get to have droughts and neither does the writer. There?s a lot of writing that?s not inspired. I get a first draft, then I know where to go.
- 1st draft is crap. (He used Hemingway?s quote)
- Challenges? I still feel fear. I still write a paragraph and say who do I think I am? I?m not a writer.
- The way to beat the fear is to write a sentence and then another. And then another.
- No matter how bad it is, keep writing.
- I don?t ever try to write a cluttered sentence.
- Hollywood always looking for the next teen movie that captures the teen zeitgeist.
- Start taking notes in a journal. It will be gold one day.
- How to get ready to write: wake up early, drink a lot of coffee, try not to get distracted.
- The great goal is how to shut out the outside world.
- Your life (as a writer) is a lonely, miserable, pain drenched life. And you?ll love it.
- Don?t be safe. Don?t write the predictable story.
- If the quote goes on too long, you lose the reader
- I love getting the detail that makes people gasp. That?s reporting.
- Readers want to be moved
- Why he?s a reporter: Because I couldn?t do math. (His father loved to tell stories) If you?re surrounded by good storytellers you pick it up.
- People love to talk about themselves.
- Here?s where you get the best stories: don?t be afraid to ask a stupid question, but ask it sincerely. I would interview anyone who would talk to me.
- Never stay with the one quote. Follow up. Ask more.
- A lot of journalism is pedestrian work, but that teaches you to write tight. Just because you?re writing a boring story doesn?t mean you get to be bored.
- ALWAYS LISTEN, follow up, don?t even look at your notebook.
- Don?t red your questions to your source. Have a conversation.
- I?m still never comfortable with my work. Never happy with it.
- Don?t think of writing as an art. Think of it as a craft.
- Get them to tell a story that?s important to them?and you
- He tells them ?I?m not here to judge you. I want to try to understand what got you to this place.? Then he tries to make them comfortable.
- Make sources feel like they have a sympathetic ear
- Where he gets his stories: I read. I look for funny stories. Stories that I read and think ?that will make a really good twist?
- Start a conversation. Don?t let them think it?s an interview.
- When you?re interviewing someone and they pause, take a breath too. LET THEM SPEAK. (STFU)
- I believe it?s very important to get banter going.
- If you get the forum to write about people, don?t get the hot head when they criticize you. When you enter the public arena, you ask for criticism.
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This entry was posted in thoughts, writing, reading, adviser and tagged writing, reporting, advice. Bookmark the permalink.Source: http://marybethlee.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/words-of-inspiration-from-yearbook-camp/
