Chapter 2, Sept. 9

As discussed earlier, writing is an art while some (including me) regard it as a kind of science as well. I did not mean that it is purely science. Because by only taking it as a scientific approach, great writing is hardly produced. And why?

There is something called magic.

Hard work can be guaranteed to propel any writer to higher level of quality. It is like a craft, leading to good writing, but it needs some magical seasoning for it. Together, craft and magic unite into a synergistic method for progressing toward writing excellence.

No people would deny that writing is hard. Craft is the conscious part, requiring diligence and discipline. Meanwhile, magic is the intuitive part. "A human brain can independently engage itself, assaying and sorting and splicing the impulses and project them back to consciousness in great reconfiguration". Just imagine like a magician knowing all the methods to perform an act but lacks the magically X-factor charm to guide the audience into magical world beyond the imagination, how sad? People would rather watch Martha Stewart's cooking instead.

It is a system. A craft-magic system called WRITE approach:

Work - Step-by-step of the writing process
Release - Release intermittently back and forth, let the mind play with it.
Inspiration - Striking of magic
Technique - Back to hard work
Energy - Stamina

The liner aspect writing is craft. It is hard work. Systemically improving the writing skill can be divided into different steps of the writing process.

Meanwhile, the writing process has the following:

Launching - The starting point
Reporting - The research phase, including interviewing
Focusing - The conceptual key
Limbering - The warmup
Rewriting - The second wind, the reinvigorated surge
Copyediting - The final polish

Well, for the magic part, I am not going to list all of them out as what I did for the "craft". To sum it up, it is this word - be creative. Do anything you can do to make yourself so. I mean, some books may tell you what you can do and whatsoever. Probably, writing, playing or sleeping or anything. But, still do not limit yourself.

All ways lead to Rome.

Explore yourself to anything that might help. "Attend to magical impulses both directly and indirectly, using every available means to focus the prodigious powers of the human brain". The most fundamental key to improvement is to harness in unison, not opposition, the dual forces of craft and magic.

They are not accidental, they are nourished. Yeah, it is true that some people are born to be gifted in writing but remember, no one knows how to hold a pen when he or she was born. Still, it is a process of learning.

-- -- --

Entering the digital and internet age, all the information are just clicks away. Journalists do not need to visit every courthouse, police department, hospital, apartment, or school, one by one. The database is set up online for their convenience. The free air space, meanwhile, allows them to go beyond the limit of time and space. Stuff can be updated anytime, anywhere, constantly. They can write as much as they can because expensive printing papers are no longer the obstactles.

When less restrictions apply to online story telling, they are not limited to a constructed form like that of newspapers and magazines. They can be at any length, with any sentence structure (as long as they are gramatically correct).

Being connected with the outside world more freely, a great advantage of the technology is that if the writers are not good enough to tell stories in words, they can always turn to posting pictures and videos. And also, the storytelling method is not only mastered by the writer, but also the readers. What the writers do can also be done by the readers. Readers are allowed to post comments, pictures and videos too when they find any outside elements which are connected to the stories they have read.

Good things can turn ugly too.

The harms coming along with the web are just the opposites of the advantages. True that you have a bunch of information for you but it makes journalists take more time to prove, proofread, update and edit the online information. When people finally know that they can tell something more easily, most of the time these information are not filtered yet, thus they are often not accurate and objective.

Same things happen to the readers' comment where the writers need to be able to handle any criticism to their writing. Some are for good means but some may not be. Take them as respect, embrace them, even though these criticisms are not intented to so.

Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them. It helps the writers win respects.