Bobby Hawthorne Writing Guide Questions

1. Hawthorne suggests that a journalist must capture the human elements of a story in order to excel beyond the typically average news article. He states that merely collecting data is a lazy and dry way of writing an article and it fails to capture the reader's long-lasting attention and interest. The writer shouldn't be writing about a subject, they should be writing a story. The main differentiation between the two is that a story really focuses on human interaction and emotion instead of just facts and meaningless quotes. Using humor and writing devices, like re-enactment of a scene or interpretation also contributes to a better story. One of the tips in the chapter suggests that the writer should approach the article like a novelist might approach writing a book, suggesting that the writer should "look for potential elements of comedy, tragedy, iron, or conflict that can be stressed in the reporting and writing". It then goes on to suggest that the writer should approach certain people they're focusing on as protagonists and antagonists, going more deeply into the characters and giving the reader something to hold on to and become invested in.

2. Hawthorne presents many strategies to produce an full, interesting, and captivating article. He gives examples of many types of literary devices that can help the writer in producing a good piece of work. Some of the devices that he cites are "Drama", "Character", "Conflict", "Anticipation", and "Climax", to name a few. One might notice that these devices are ones very commonly used in writing a novel or short fiction story, which reiterates the fact that the reporter should be approaching their work similarly to how a novelist might approach their book. He suggests that the reporter should utilize these devices and perhaps make the reader forget that they're reading non-fiction, and really become invested in the story and the "characters". He also focuses on organization, especially making sure that there's a good lead, and then building up the rest of the paragraphs based on that.