"Over and over again I would take out the five most important books on X subject, and then I'd go back to The New York Times, and by God, the story that was written the day after was by far the best source. Those reporters were writing with everything in the right perspective. Sometimes I think historians are a little like sauté chefs: they cook everything up and soften the edges."
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--Nicholson Baker, novelist/historian, on researching his new book Human Smoke: The Beginning of World War II, 2008.
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If you haven't figured it out by now, working in the media is a pretty nice gig. Barring outright plagiarism or committing a crime, you don't have to be accountable if you don't want to. You can say what you want when you want and you don't really have to answer to anyone....?
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--Curt Shilling, Red Sox pitcher, 2007
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"The idea that somewhere before it is a big story that there is some
young person ... putting themselves on the line morally, ethically,
journalistically, that is a great thing. I mean, that is what a free
society is about."
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David Halberstam, (1934-2007), Pulitzer-winner for his Vietnam coverage and author of more than 20 books, on the role of courageous journalists.
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How to Write Good
"No sentence fragments.
It behooves us to avoid archaisms.
Also, avoid awkward or affected alliteration.
Don't use no double negatives.
If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, 'Resist
hyperbole.'
Avoid commas, that are not necessary.
Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Writing carefully, dangling participles should not be used.
Kill all exclamation points!!!Never use a long word with a diminutive
one will do.
Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
Take the bull by the hand and don't mix metaphors.
Don't verb nouns.
Never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague."
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William Safire, US author and columnist”
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"Most journalists are restless voyeurs who see the warts on the world, the imperfections in people and places. Gloom is their game, the spectacle their passion, normality their nemisis."
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“More than one newspaper has been ruined by the brilliant writer in the editor’s chair.”
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Lord Camrose
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“Writers, like teeth, are divided into incisors and grinders.”
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Walter Bagehot, British economist
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“Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for the love of it, then you do it for a few friends, and finally you do it for the money.”
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Moliere, playwright
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“Every reporter is a hope, every editor a disappointment.”
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Joseph Pulitzer
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“Some editors are failed writers, but then so are most writers.”
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T.S.Eliot
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“No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else’s draft.”
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H.G.Wells (1866-1946)
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“The relationship of editor to author is knife to throat”
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Unknown
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“A blank page is God’s way of showing you how hard it is to be God.”
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Unknown
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“Nice guys can’t write.”
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Literary agent Knox Burger
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“Writing books is certainly a most unpleasant occupation. It is lonesome, unsanitary, and maddening. Many authors go crazy.”
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H.L.Mencken (1880-1956)
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“Being a newspaper columnist is like being married to a nymphomaniac. It’s great for the first two weeks.”
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Lewis Grizzard
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“Every journalist has a novel in him, which is an excellent place for it.”
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Russell Lynes
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“Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.”
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Gene Fowler (1890-1960)
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“I can write better than anyone who can write faster, and I can write faster than anyone who can write better.”
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A.J.Liebling (1904-1963)
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“He writes so well he makes me feel like putting my quill back in my goose.”
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Fred Allen (1894-1956)
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“Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good.”
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Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
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“Most writers regard the truth as their most valuable possession, and therefore are most economical in its use.”
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Mark Twain (1835-1910)
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“Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard.”
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Daphne Du Maurier
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“Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamp-post how it feel about dogs.”
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Christopher Hampton
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“He once telephoned a semicolon from Moscow.”
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James Bone: James Agate diary, 1935, on being asked whether George Mair was a fastiduous journalist
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“A foreign correspondent is someone who flies around from hotel to hotel and thinks that the most interesting thing about any story is the fact that has has arrived to cover it.”
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Tom Stoppard, British playwright
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“As usual, to put it politely, Garry Wills erases the distinction between reporting and creative writing.”
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Jeffrey Hart
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"Most journalists are restless voyeurs who see the warts on the world, the imperfections in people and places. Gloom is their game, the spectacle their passion, normality their nemisis."
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US Novelist Gay Talese, 1969
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