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Notes From A Writing Coach
News/Blog
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Fri, 04 May 2007
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Write no lies
By John Rains
A journalism teacher recently raised a question
on a listserv. He said he had some colleagues who
thought it was acceptable to use composite
characters and dress up the setting in a story.
How depressing.
After all the scandals in recent years involving
reporters, memoirists and historians who have
been caught lying, it is disheartening to hear
that some teachers think it is all right to
deceive readers. Take note, please. These rules
will save your honor, your self-respect and maybe
your career:
Make up nothing.
Embellish nothing.
The minute you make anything up or embellish
setting or anything else, you’re writing fiction.
Do not use composite characters. They are
fiction. When they are used without disclosure to
the reader, they are lies. With disclosure, they
are a cheap gimmick. And they still put your
entire story in doubt. If the reader knows you’re
willing to make up a character, he can’t help but
wonder what else you may have made up.
Don’t change quotes. You can take out the
meaningless noise—the ums, ahs and ers—and you
can render words in regular English instead of
dialect—“gonna” is “going to”—but don’t change
the words. I like the guideline John McIntyre
spelled out on his blog recently: “We don’t want
the words the speaker uses in print to be
different from the speaker’s words as broadcast
on the television or radio.”
Don’t use other people’s writing without
giving them credit. Be generous with credit.
Taking other writers’ words without acknowledging
the authors is plagiarism. In more blunt terms, a
plagiarist is a liar and a thief.
Stay out of people’s heads. You cannot know
what anyone thinks. Don’t pretend you can.
Don’t lie by omission. If you distort the
story by leaving out information essential to
understanding, it is just as wrong as making up
details.
Don’t ignore that uneasy feeling in the back
of your mind. Pay attention to it.
The rules hold in all forms of nonfiction,
including narrative. Some writers think that
narrative gives them license to play loose with
the facts. It doesn’t. Narrative requires
reporting that is every bit as rigorous as
straight
news writing and requires the same unyielding
standards of
accuracy.
Posted 21:13
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2 comments
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Thanks
I want to send an articl from a local rag, about
a police shooting of a female veterinarian, in
which the "reporter" states in declarative
sentences what the victim did to precipiate the
shooting. He was not present, nor did he evfen
acknowledge that his source was the police
report.
I raised hell about it at first, then backed off
after I realized that I was only harming
myself. I am in a daily state of amazement at
what passes for journalism anymore. Heard Joe
Scarborough the other days state that McCain had
placed from last in his class at West Point. No
correction followed. Are staff afraid to
correct their big shot, big mouth bosses. And
why hasn't somebody told Bush how to
pronounce "nuclear"? I have even heard
journalists mispronouncing it, not to mention
parroting the latest fad phrases from the White
House. The fourth estate is in bankruptcy
court, methinks.
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Correction
Sorry for the typos, how mortifying. Am in
class and hurrying this before the instructor
comes around again. I promise to proofread my
own work henceforth. Coach, can you go in and
correct my egregious errors?
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