“On Writing” Analysis Questions

Grace Schmidhauser

1/25/16

The main idea that Albom discusses always comes back to getting the reader’s attention. He acknowledges the increasingly daunting challenges the newspaper industry is facing, but expresses a confidence in the art of journalism and its ability to remain relevant and prominent in this digital age. He describes exactly how one should write an attention grabbing article, breaking his advice up into 3 of the most important aspects of news-writing: the Lead, the Middle, and the End.

Leads: Albom talks about how the lead has to not only contain the most important contextual information in the piece, but also be entertaining enough that the reader will be compelled to keep reading the article. He acknowledges the “movie culture” that we live in, and suggests that a good way to utilize this is to lead with a scene, to drop the reader directly into a situation so that they become invested in the story. Albom also talks about using gimmicks to one’s advantage, and that the writer should do whatever is necessary to keep the reader interested. The lead is the set up for what’s to come, so the reporter has to make sure it’s interesting.

Middles: Albom discusses the importance of making stories human. He talks about how important it is to find a new and different angle to a story as there are so many identically written articles that lack effectiveness. The best way to steer clear of a generic article is to find a back-story that obscurely relates to the topic, but makes the connection that expresses the greater theme of the piece. Usually this can be achieved by interviewing people who most wouldn’t immediately think to.

Endings: In this section, Albom talks about the power of a subtle ending. He discusses how writers often feel as though they need to make these huge blanket statements about society in order to have an effective ending. He counters by saying that often the most subtle endings can be the most powerful, because it gives the reader something to hold on to and think about. The reporter doesn’t need to very obviously state every single point that they are seeking to make, and having to read between the lines resonates much more with the reader most of the time.

1. “The only thing that we have to offer is our ability to write”
   This quote describes the main redeeming quality of newspaper writers, and what sets them apart from the rest of the media that is presenting the same news. News can be extremely powerful when reported and delivered right, and that’s what newspapers have the ability to do, which is extremely important. Good writing also establishes a sense of trust between the writer and the reader; a certain credibility.
2. “Because people will give you about two to three seconds now, on anything… That’s the kind of attention span they’re fighting with, and that’s what we are fighting with, too, whether we want to admit it or not”
   This is a statement on modern society and how fast-paced everything is. Because of internet culture, people are used to a lot of visuals and fast moving pictures, so it’s often difficult for people to focus on one thing for a solid amount of time. This is why is so important to make stories attention grabbing. They have to compete with this endless stream of media, which is very difficult to do.
3. “He went and found a person, and through the eyes of that one particular person, told a story for everyone.”
   This quote represents the importance of the human element of writing. People like to relate to stories, and once the writer can get a reader to relate, he has them hooked. Humans don’t connect with facts and statistics, they connect with other human beings, therefore it is essential that the story be told through a lense that the reader can resonate with.
4. “Trust your readers, they’re pretty smart. They know how to read, they’re already ahead of most of the rest of the country. And they’ll get it, they’ll get what you’re trying to say.”
   I resonated with this quote because it shows respect for the readers. Albom recognizes that the readers are who the journalists are ultimately trying to reach out to. It’s really important for the reporter to trust the reader, and to trust that they will understand the hidden messages and themes within the piece.
5. “Always look for something in the room, or something that somebody says or something, that does your work for you. Instead of you saying, “this is terrible, this is sad, this is awful,” look for a picture that tells it better than you and just describe the picture.   That’s what we can do as journalists and writers that nobody else can.”
   This statement is really important for all writers to hear, because it’s motivation to think outside of the box and really think. That’s the only thing that can lead to great writing. It describes the power that good journalists have to make any story moving, and the way that they can use the world around them to create something important.