4 Opinion pieces
5 Lifestyle journalism - about events, trends, observations the writer has made
6 Topical issues (background to news stories, profiles of people in the news, obituaries of people who have died)
And so on.
Susan Elkin is a freelance writer of features articles in newspapers like the Independent, the Daily Mail and The Times. She describes some of the topics she has been asked to research and write about during her career:
[a/w photo of Susan Elkin - there's one in the source material]
"… cats in literature, hymn singing, dentistry, financial planning for women and the prices of electric drills in the USA. And sometimes it has to be written very quickly. Many's the time - in between answering phone calls on all sorts of topics - that I've dashed off a thousand words about some school's new venture in the morning and then another thousand about, say, a broom-maker or an infant clarinettist in the afternoon."
You can see how challenging this is - being able to write 1000 words about a topic you know little about to a tight deadline - and make it interesting for a reader.
Getting Started
There are a number of ways to make your feature article interesting, as these openings from features journalism show:
Start with a human-interest dimension using a specific person.
· If you're asked to describe a large event - such as a riot in Los Angeles - you might begin by focusing on one individual:
"In front of the smoking electronics store, the small black boy had a problem. He had looted six items, but he could carry only five. For around fifteen minutes he hesitated, shielding them from other, older pillagers, while he tried to arrange them. Then flames spouted from the shop, driving out the remaining looters."
The Economist
Start with a quotation.
7 If you're asked to write about the creator of the Teletubbies, you might begin:
"‘I’VE HAD white hair for a long time now,' Anne Wood considers between sips of gin and tonic. "It’s been a great advantage to me in the past: people underestimated me because of it, I’m quite sure. That’s not as true now, sadly." She stares off into the middle-distance for a moment as if genuinely sorry about this. Now only the very foolish would underestimate Wood, for as the Teletubbies’ mum – as well as the woman who created Rosie and Jim and Tots TV – she has become one of the most powerful, respected and dynamic people in children’s television, not to mention one of the richest (her rumoured fortune is £55 million), and is responsible for the now ubiquitous cultural icons that are Tinky Winky, Dipsy, LaLa and Po. "
Scotsman, 20/7/99
Pay close attention to visual detail: help your reader to see the scene.
· If you're asked to writing about living rough on the streets of Paris, you might begin:
"The rue du Coq d'Or, Paris, seven in the morning. A succession of furious, choking yells from the street. Madam Monce, who kept the little hotel opposite mine, had come out on to the pavement to address a lodger on the third floor. Her bare feet was stuck into sabots and her grey hair was streaming down"
George Orwell
Notice how these writers aim to grab our interest, even if writing about topics that may not, on the surface, interest us.
WRITING PRACTICE
Choose one of the topics below and write the opening 150 words of a features article about it for a school magazine. The challenge is to make these topics interesting, so that the reader wants to read on. Experiment the techniques above. Remember to:
1 Think carefully about your audience: what will they be interested in? What will they already know about the subject? What style will you use?
2 Spend time researching the topic - so that you can include visual details and quotations.
3 Think about your opening sentence - you need to hook your reader's interest straight away
4 Use language in a way that will make the reader want to read on - for example, using vivid vocabulary that helps the reader to se the scene you describe.
Topics:
· A school event - for example, sports day or a concert
· A description of a hobby or activity - for example, skiing or skateboarding
· A profile of someone at your school - a teacher or student.
5 Making opinion essays interesting
Introduction
Like newspaper articles, good essays capture our attention from the beginning and make us want to keep reading. This means that not only do you want your content to be lively and interesting, but your style also needs to be entertaining.
Imagine that your assignment has this title:
Many people say that more choice of television channels has led to lower standards of programmes. What is your opinion?
This is inviting your opinion, plus a combination of facts and other viewpoints. You would need to start by planning your ideas and gathering examples.
Once you have planned your essay, what style of writing should you use?
This will depend on your topic, purpose and audience. In Science, you might write up an experiment by saying "First we tested the magnesium by …". Writing about an idea or concept you might be more informal: "filtration suspends solid particles in a liquid when they are passed through a filter, usually porous paper, plastic or cloth". Writing that is intended to inform will often be less personal than writing which entertains and persuades.
The main issue is think carefully about your topic, purpose and audience, so that you style is appropriately formal/informal and personal/impersonal.
GETTING STARTED
In an essay, your opening paragraph is all-important. You need to get your audience interested. Here are some possible techniques:
1 Dramatic opening sentences
These immediately grab the reader's attention with a statement that is dramatic or controversial:
Most television is terrible. Most television is boring. Most television is pointless. So why are we so addicted to it?
This is the technique often used by speech-writers: a mixture of statements and a question to get the reader involved with the topic.
2 Using Quotations
If you can do some research using a dictionary of quotations, you might be able to find a quotation to kick your essay off - for example:
- Sam Goldwyn: Why should people go out and pay to see bad movies when they can stay at home and see bad television for nothing?
- John Mason Brown: Some television programmes are just so much chewing gum for the eyes.
You can build quotations into your style in several ways. The best is probably to allow the quotation to make an impact at the start of your essay, like this:
"Some television programmes are just so much chewing gum for the eyes," said John Mason Brown. He sums up what many people think ...
or, by embedding the reference within the quotation:
"Some television programmes, " said John Mason Brown, "are just so much chewing gum for the eyes." Many viewers would agree with him …
3 A lively personal opening
You might choose a more personal approach, which just uses your own words to draw the reader into your world. Here are the openings of a series of essays by top journalist and essay-writer, Keith Waterhouse:
In my bumper catalogue of things that are no longer what they used to be, there is a special place for the public library …
I think you should be the first to know that I have decided not to buy Hamleys. I was tempted, to be sure, when I heard that the Est End toy superstore was up for sale. I have always wanted a toyshop ..
I may have left it a bit late in the year for this year but I am thinking of mounting a campaign for Real Easter Eggs.
All of these openings suggest someone who has strong opinions. Where we agree or disagree, they make us want to find out what the writer has to say.
Style hint
Students used to be advised to keep their style very formal - never to say "I" and "me", and to avoid elisions like "don't" and "isn't". For most essays, these guidelines create a style which is too formal. The main ingredient should be you - your thoughts and feelings. Aim to write in a lively, interesting way, varying your sentences, choosing interesting vocabulary, and backing up your ideas with specific examples where you can.
WRITING PRACTICE
Practise writing the opening of an essay using the techniques listed above. Choose one of the titles below.
Write about an event that made a big impact on your life.
Do you think the internet has done more harm than good?
Write about a member of your family who has influenced you.
Cross-reference: Formal language and when to use it
Using quotations in literature essay |
