HOW I BECAME A HACK Part two. After two years as tea boy (Part one) I became a junior reporter at a district office serving morning, evening and (mostly) weekly papers. Picking up:
Shorthand. (Above) Chrysanthemum and herbaceous border in Pitman. A 1000-word article based on a chrysanthemum society techno-talk demands shorthand. Memory alone is inadequate and dangerous. I had 100 wpm certificate, could write 120 wpm but bad handwriting meant bad shorthand. Later, shorthand hindered my writing ability. Shorthand recorded what was said not what was done; this inhibited comment and imagination.
Interviewing. Haphazard, self-taught: uneducated youth struggling in adult-dominated society. Teaching oneself to ask: Your husband was killed today in car crash, what school did he go to?
Understanding institutions. Meetings of special-interest groups, local councils, governing bodies of churches, etc, follow patterns. Certain events within a pattern are newsworthy, others not. Vital to understand patterns of procedure at courts-at-law. Contempt of Court provisions permit unlimited punishment for unwary.
Typing. Self-taught with high level of motivation. Guideline: ability to write 1000-word article in one hour on to typewriter from scratch.
Writing style. Theoretically unimportant since articles were formulaic. However, a better style might catch the eye of someone important. Other reasons: pride and cuttings book.
What is news? Overrated judgment picked up by almost everyone after two weeks in journalism. Definition: a tiny exception in a dross pile of the expected. Sometimes a fact; more often something said. Recognition tip: newsworthy stuff comes with its own implicit headline.
Endurance. Sixty-hour weeks common. Social life so fragmented I drank during brief interstices as my only hobby. Avoiding clichés, I became one.
Part three. Learning to write
Shorthand. (Above) Chrysanthemum and herbaceous border in Pitman. A 1000-word article based on a chrysanthemum society techno-talk demands shorthand. Memory alone is inadequate and dangerous. I had 100 wpm certificate, could write 120 wpm but bad handwriting meant bad shorthand. Later, shorthand hindered my writing ability. Shorthand recorded what was said not what was done; this inhibited comment and imagination.
Interviewing. Haphazard, self-taught: uneducated youth struggling in adult-dominated society. Teaching oneself to ask: Your husband was killed today in car crash, what school did he go to?
Understanding institutions. Meetings of special-interest groups, local councils, governing bodies of churches, etc, follow patterns. Certain events within a pattern are newsworthy, others not. Vital to understand patterns of procedure at courts-at-law. Contempt of Court provisions permit unlimited punishment for unwary.
Typing. Self-taught with high level of motivation. Guideline: ability to write 1000-word article in one hour on to typewriter from scratch.
Writing style. Theoretically unimportant since articles were formulaic. However, a better style might catch the eye of someone important. Other reasons: pride and cuttings book.
What is news? Overrated judgment picked up by almost everyone after two weeks in journalism. Definition: a tiny exception in a dross pile of the expected. Sometimes a fact; more often something said. Recognition tip: newsworthy stuff comes with its own implicit headline.
Endurance. Sixty-hour weeks common. Social life so fragmented I drank during brief interstices as my only hobby. Avoiding clichés, I became one.
Part three. Learning to write
I attempted a course in shorthand in my mid-twenties, and rapidly came to the conclusion Biblical Hebrew would be an easier option, albeit one I did not take up.
ReplyDeleteI think if my husband were killed in a car crash I would prefer to be asked factual questions about where he went to school than the ubiquitous and face-slap-meriting 'How do you feel?' beloved of the post-Diana, post Feargal Keene school of interviewing.
Shaking my head yes, agreeing with Lucy's point about the interview question asked at a terrible time. And your point, "newsworthy stuff comes with its own implicit headline" has me thinking which headlines I dip down into the text for when I peruse the NYT, which is the only daily I look at(on-line) these days. I tend to listen to my news in the mornings on NPR (National Public Radio).
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying these posts, and looking forward to the next one about learning to write.
ReplyDeleteLucy: There are intellectual arguments in defence of poor shorthand speed, and I have used them all. Perhaps you would have progressed further had you found yourself in a reverse version of one of the classes I took - female teenagers bar me. "Would you read that back Sandra? Would you read that back Teresa? Would you read that back Mr. Bonden?"
ReplyDeleteI agree about futile interview questions which cause me to grind my teeth. However, just as a frisson at one of these post-mortality occasions, I seem to recall acting the role of first informant as well.
RW (zS): I didn't have the NYT in mind since their headlines tend to suffer from an acute naiveté. The rationale is perfectly justifiable: information only without a trace of wit. True headline writing reaches its apogee in the no-doubt apocalyptic: Nut bolts, screws washer, which I will translate for you when you're much older.
Anne: I fear you may well have been disappointed. The post - now posted - was limited to 300 words as with all my posts.
Oh! I must be getting on in years, for I laughed at that one instead of blushing as a lady should have. Na ja!
ReplyDelete