The Joys of Journalism
June 20, 2009
"That must be interesting."
That's the response I always get when I meet strangers in social situations and
they happen to ask me what I do. And, though I've been a journalist for 30 years,
I always acknowledge them in the affirmative. Yes, it is an 'interesting' profession
and one that many, many people would love to be a part of. Indeed, that is probably
why you are reading this in the first place: because you want to become a journalist.
If you feel pretty much in the dark about gaining a foothold in the industry, you’ve
come to the right place to learn how and if you'll get there. The Australian College
of Journalism has been running for more than 25 years now and many graduates have
gone on to forge careers in journalism. And, yes, it is a great career.
It's taken me to places I thought I would never go to and allowed me the privilege
of talking to people who I would otherwise never have met. If you were to ask me
what are the essentials in becoming a good journalist, I could list many, and in
the coming weeks my regular articles here will hopefully give you an insight into
the skills needed to get there. But whenever any aspiring journalism student asks
me what qualities they need, I always come back to the one main ingredient required:
you simply must love writing!
Now, this probably seems pretty obvious to most of you but it always surprises me
how, to some, the writing process seems almost incidental. And I'd say if you don't
enjoy that process, then you will be hard-pressed to find a niche in journalism.
After stating what seems plainly obvious, I would add that, to have any hope of
achieving your goals, you must write. A lot. Every day. Some may make excuses by
saying they're not near a computer on a particular day, but there's no excuse for
not carrying a pen/pencil and notebook with you, everywhere. I carry them all the
time because those great moments of inspiration (which usually arrive in the middle
of the night!) can quickly be lost amid the routine minutiae of everyday life that
clutters our brains.
Some days you may not feel particularly inspired but I cannot stress enough how
important it is to sit down and write something, ANYTHING, every day. It may be
100 words of dull prose, it may be 1,000 words full of priceless literary gems.
Many established writers set themselves a daily target of words and most will only
use perhaps a fraction of them in their final work. Even keeping a journal or a
diary counts. The writing process must become a habit if you are to ply your wares
in the competitive world of journalism. Let's face it, almost all working journalists
will write every day, and not just one story but several, and often about many varied
topics.
In coming weeks, I will be looking at many aspects of journalism including, among
others, web journalism, research, grammar and spelling, clichés, editing, and reporting.
If you have any suggestions about topics you’d like to see, let me know, and feel
free to comment on this and future articles.
Happy writing!
Gary Smith
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