Analogy

Calvino writes, “Just as for the poet writing verse, so it is for the prose writer: success consists in felicity of verbal expression, which every so often may result from a quick flash of inspiration but as a rule involves a patient search for the mot juste, for the sentence in which every word is unalterable, the most effective marriage of sounds and concepts.” Words a writer should live by.

This could not be more imperative than in news writing, which is my analogy for quickness. Just as inspiration comes to the poet and prose writer, a journalist witnesses or experiences a flash of inspiration, but his/her inspiration draws from daily life.  He or she must respond with diligence and accuracy, and often, he or she must condense complex story lines with zany characters to whatever hole is left in the morning paper. No matter how much the story is squeezed, the writer had a responsibilty to capture its essence no matter what.

Not only is production quick, but the consumption of news is constructed specifically for those on the go. Perhaps, the best way to describe quickness, both of the mind and of the product, is Mike Foley, professor of News  Reporting in UF’s college of journalism and his three rules: 1. Always get the dog’s name; 2. Don’t fuck it up; and 3. most importantly, make it sing.