Editors and columnists are thinking about how to make a column written in depth and delivered quickly. So far, I haven't got the answer. There seems to be a delay in the manuscript. It is estimated that there will be no solution for a while.
Indeed, it is not easy to write an article, and it is even more difficult to write a column. So how do you write a column? Let's take a look at how the most influential columnists in the world write their columns, and maybe there will be some inspiration and reference.
The New York Times columnist Thomas l. friedman has been a journalist for more than ten years. Three-time Pulitzer Prize winner. His column in The New York Times has been published in more than 700 media around the world. He is the author of the best-selling book The World is Flat, The World is Hot, Flat and Crowded, which was once brilliant.
Following in his footsteps, I read a book called "Thank you for being late". The author is a great writer. In this book, this awesome writer exchanged opinions with a parking attendant and exchanged his life experiences and stories for knowledge on how to write a column. After making a promise with Bo Jia, a car park tax collector, thomas l. friedman had to think more deeply about the skills of opinion writing than before in order to fulfill his promise. For a columnist and 17 reporter who has worked for more than 20 years, because of a promise, he stopped to think about "the difference between news reporting and opinion writing" and "how to make a column" effective ". Based on the above two considerations, Thomas L. Friedman wrote a column.
How to write a column?
According to Thomas l. friedman, there is no uniform rule and no course to teach column writing, and everyone writes in a different way. He can only provide some basic guidelines.
1. Make clear the difference between journalists and columnists.
Friedman, a journalist and columnist, thinks that their writing purposes and principles are different as follows:
The focus of journalists' attention is to dig out the truth to explain complex news events, expose and expose the unreasonable things hidden behind them, and let the facts guide the progress. The reporter's purpose at the scene is to tell the public information, and the reporter should be fair and just. Truth-telling news often has great influence, depending on the degree of exposure and explanation.
Columnists, or bloggers like Bogart, write to influence or stimulate a certain reaction, not just to inform. Columnists expound their views from a specific angle and convince readers to think or feel a problem from different angles in a convincing way, with a stronger feeling or a brand-new way of thinking.
Journalists passively respond to events or news that have happened; Columnists need to create their own column content.
2. How to write a good column?
Friedman believes that writing a good article needs to mix three raw materials:
The first material is your own values, main concerns and ambitions; Refers to what you care about most and what you strongly want to see realized. Your values determine what is most important and what is worth publishing.
The second raw material is the most powerful force that affects the world. How do you think these forces will change history? Columnists have the ability to push the world to change, shape the social machine and make it work where their values are.
The third material is your understanding of people and culture. How will they react when they are hit by the most powerful force?
Generally speaking, Friedman thinks that a good column is a mixture of these three materials: a writer who does not embody a set of values cannot be a good opinion writer. And the view is from the heart, "from the heart, to enter the hearts of the people." Those opinions that are not from the heart will never enter the hearts of others. We need to ignite care with care, and we need to ignite sympathy with sympathy. In addition, a column view must come from real people if it wants to impress others. A column cannot just preach some abstract principles.
In addition, the viewpoint also needs to be constantly improved. With the acquisition of new knowledge and the change of the world, we need to constantly update our views. If you can't connect things in a convincing way-why does this action have such consequences-then it's hard for you to persuade others to take action.
3. How can we keep iterating and updating our views?
Friedman said that if you want to keep your world outlook evergreen and keep pace with the times, you must constantly report and learn, and constantly communicate with others. Especially today, in this rapidly changing world, as the world becomes more and more interdependent and complex, you need to expand your aperture and synthesize more different perspectives than ever before.
The above is Friedman's view on how to write a column. It is just an example of this book, and it is full of sincerity.
Introduction to Thank You for Being Late:
What is the main content of the book Thank you for being late? The ever-changing world has brought us a sense of pushing back made by speed, but also dizziness beyond passion. Technical operation is getting faster and faster, but people's adaptation is slow. With the progress of technology and the emergence of globalization, we are all on the accelerating elevator. The author gives a solution: to improve learning ability and cope with the era of accelerated change. The future era belongs to lifelong learners and crosses borders. In this rapid era, it is important not to be busy every day, but to be able to reflect on the world in time, understand the world from a broader perspective, and respond to changes with an open mind. (You can reply to "look6" to get an e-book). Summarize the core point of this book, that is, in a fast era, with the help of learning methods and an open mind, we should change with constancy and control change with slowness.