A Writer's Moment: A role model for integrity and truth

A Writer's Moment: A role model for integrity and truth:   "The speed of communications is wondrous to behold.  It is also true that speed can multiply the distribution of information that we ...

A role model for integrity and truth

 "The speed of communications is wondrous to behold.  It is also true that speed can multiply the distribution of information that we know to be untrue."  -- Edward R. Murrow

Born in North Carolina on April 25, 1908 Murrow was a leading light in the news business for 35 years before his life was cut short by lung cancer on April 27, 1965.    Murrow received numerous honors for his journalistic excellence and integrity, including the Medal of Freedom and a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II just weeks before his death.

A radio war correspondent in World War II, he founded the CBS television news program See It Now, and his work behind the CBS news desk and as an interviewer influenced two generations of news anchors, beginning with Walter Cronkite.  Today, his name graces the Excellence in Reporting awards given annually in both the print and broadcast worlds.

The 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck, directed by George Clooney, focused on Murrow's efforts to "tell the truth" about Senator Joseph McCarthy's reign of intimidation in the early 1950s, inspiring yet another generation of those seeking to “do journalism right.” 

 

"To be persuasive we must be believable," Murrow said.  "To be believable, we must be credible; and to be credible we must tell the truth."    

A Writer's Moment: Finding that 'good twist' to tell your story

A Writer's Moment: Finding that 'good twist' to tell your story:   “I've always believed that a good twist is one that, when it is presented to the audience, half of them say, 'I...

Finding that 'good twist' to tell your story

 

“I've always believed that a good twist is one that, when it is presented to the audience, half of them say, 'I saw that coming.' And half of them are completely and totally shocked. Because if you don't have the half that saw it coming, then it wasn't fair: You never gave the audience a chance to guess It.” – Damon Lindelof

Born in New Jersey on this date in 1973, Lindelof is a television writer, producer, and film screenwriter, most noted as co-creator of the award-winning television series Lost.  Both praised and criticized for his writing, he says that that’s exactly what any writer worth his or her salt should hope to achieve.  His ending for the Lost series left some viewers and critics mystified, some angry, and some feeling great.

Regardless of how it ended, Lost received endless praise for its unique brand of storytelling and strong characters and the show never fell out of the top 30 throughout its six seasons on the air.   Since then he has had many other award-winning efforts for both television and film, including the TV shows The Leftovers and Watchmen, and the movies The Hunt and Another Country.

 

“As clichéd as it sounds,” Lindelof said,  “if you have an original voice and an original idea, then no matter what anybody says, you have to find a way to tell that story.”

A Writer's Moment: A testament to perserverence

A Writer's Moment: A testament to perserverence:   “Somewhere along the line, I realized that I liked telling stories, and I decided that I would try writing. Ten years...

A testament to perserverence

 

“Somewhere along the line, I realized that I liked telling stories, and I decided that I would try writing. Ten years later, I finally got a book published. It was hard. I had no skills. I knew nothing about the business of getting published. So I had to keep working at it.” –  Janet Evanovich

 

Born on April 22,1943 Evanovich now has over two hundred million books in print worldwide, translated into over 40 languages.  After those initial struggles, she gained fame and loyal readers with her contemporary mysteries featuring Stephanie Plum, a former lingerie buyer from Trenton, NJ, who becomes a bounty hunter to make ends meet after losing her job.

 

Evanovich’s droll sense of humor (“If you want to cry, you're not going to like my books”) combined with a knack for setting up mystery and suspense keeps her readers involved from start to finish.

 

Another “reader involvement” idea is letting readers help name her books.  “Readers were sending in their ideas for titles,” she explained.  “So we thought, ‘Hey, go for it.’ Now we have a contest every year.”

 

During her early writing years she had dozens and dozens of rejection letters but she kept trying and finally connected with a romance novel for which she received $2,000.  “I thought it was an astounding sum,” she recalled.  Today, her net worth is around $140 million.

A Writer's Moment: 'The best way to exercise imagination'

A Writer's Moment: 'The best way to exercise imagination':   “Being able to write creatively or read creative fiction is the best way to exercise your imagination. “ – Michael Pry...