Ten Commandments for a Journalist? A Far-fetched Guess! Post 4 #MyFriendAlexa #DeepTiesWrites

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                                                                          Daily Mayo

Your pen is poised over a blank sheet of paper as you wait for that first burst of energy that will bring your thoughts gushing out like a fountain! (No, I do not have an anal fixation!) And before you know it, you have filled sheets and sheets, as ideas tumble out almost faster than your hand can put them down. Any rules to be followed? Maybe a few unwritten ones which you pick up along the long stony path of writing!

First of all, know where your writing is going. (Please don’t think of canines here!) Read specific magazines to slot your contribution.  A heart-rending piece on malnutrition, despatched to a high-end glossy, will never get published, no matter how laudable! Or a love story to a political magazine, a desert as far as romance goes, despite insinuations of political bedfellows!


                                                        Introduction to Grammar

Beg, borrow or steal a computer, or at least visit an Internet Cafe and type out your article. Calligraphy is used only in schools, and sometimes not even there. The editor has no patience to go through handwritten pieces, especially if they resemble a doctor's prescription. Which brings me to the oft-asked query - why do doctors have such illegible handwriting?

Once written, the task does not end there. Use spell check and the thesaurus carefully, avoid typos and don't let the computer spellings confuse you further. Use easy language that you and everyone else can understand, avoiding words that sound grave and pompous. Often they can send your article to the graveyard of unaccepted manuscripts - the wastepaper basket, always overflowing with ideas that never took off! You can't blame the editor if he doesn't get head or tail of what you mean, after all!


                                                          Maela ungdomsskole

Put across your ideas clearly and succinctly. Don't babble like a brook and meander from point to point mindlessly. The longer the words and the more unclear the concepts, the more intense will be the yawns they provoke in the readers. Hardly an inspiring image!

Laughter is the best medicine. Use humour, but only if you have a flair for it, and be discreet. Leave out touchy topics like religion, caste, personal comments, hurtful allusions, and unnecessary sarcasm. Don't offend your readers, or poke fun at them. It is no fun being under a fatwa - ask Salman Rushdie!


                                        Reprinted from The Funny Times

Never plagiarize!  Stringent checks on the Internet can penalize you, however obscure the source you would like to pass off as your own. Opal Mehta who “Got Kissed, Got Wild” also got shelved, turning from a work that enjoyed a great deal of hype, into one of rank ignominy when whole passages were found to have been lifted from many earlier books.


                                                        native-english.com.ua

Control your joy when your first piece is published! It is not yet time to see Pulitzer dreams in technicolour, or to frame up your article in gold and display it in your drawing room as a conversation piece!

Refrain from changing your sartorial style to crumpled kurta pajama, scruffy bag on shoulder and worn out slippers. Don’t turn into a goggle-eyed fish, staring into nothingness, as you pretend to mull over your next magnum opus! 


                                                     Pinterest (Calvin & Hobbes)

One swallow does not a summer make! So, don't hunt for a literary agent or proclaim from the rooftops that a huge publishing house has offered you an obscene advance for your next work! Or brag about the fact that Sanjay Leela Bhansali has offered to turn your masterpiece into a movie! Remember that you have miles to go before you sleep, and that the literary woods are indeed dark and deep!

 I am taking my Alexa rank to the next level with Blogchatter. Do go through my posts and do feel free to let me know how you feel. Thank you. #DeepTiesWrites

 #DeepTiesWrites #MyFriendAlexa

Comments

  1. Unknown9/15/2018 07:55:00 PM

    Writing is an intriguing engagement where we explore the unknown and where we have the rules but more importantly, we should know where to break the rules. Breaking altogether can take the away the very essence of the idea we wants to convey. The power of idea sets the agenda and the different perspectives we place on the table make the platter palatable to the readers. The language is vehicle and we need to known the nuts and bolts to make the vehicle move with ease and grace. The passion has to be there otherwise, it is ignition that is needed to get the engine of writing on fire. The clarity of thought and simplicity of presentation and the ability to converse after establishing the connection...make all the difference.
    :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. deepti menon9/15/2018 08:16:00 PM

      Thank you for your illuminating comment, Mr. Pradhan. Having been a journalist for years, I just thought I would put downmy ideas in a humorous fashion. Thank you for your comment.

      Delete

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