Doing Things The "Write" Way

During this past semester, Brian Steffen's BNR students have engaged in the benefits of writing and reporting.

With the semester coming to an end, many students may wonder what to do next. How do we keep up on our writing skills? What is a good way to maintain what we have learned throughout this course?

One of the best tips for young writers to keep their writing career strong is by starting a journal.

A journal helps because it helps a person express his/her feelings, become more organized, and maintain focus. When writing, a person will become more aware of feelings and help clarify his/her thoughts.

Another good reason to keep up on a journal is developing personal growth in writing. Writing helps create and capture memories of a person's lifetime. If a person decides to go back and reflect on a journal, he/she can personally see improvement as entries continue.

One last reason keeping a journal is helpful is reducing stress. When a person handles problems by writing things out, it helps combine fuzzy, spinning thoughts into how a person is actually viewing his/her troubles. By writing, health can be improved because getting emotions out enables the mind to be clearer.

Journals are a great way to help writers improve writing skills at a cost-free and easy way. By having a journal, BNR students can continue to develop good writing habits and a sense of their own mind.

Photo Credit: Creative Commons

Read more...

Taking Care Of Business

With the sun shining and the busy time of finals approaching, many college students are feeling a lack of time to complete everything.

However, if a student wants to receive good grades for the end of the term, he/she must decide to prioritize what is most important to get accomplishments completed. With teachers piling on the papers, tests, stories, and quizzes, many students feel overwhelmed and unable to accomplish these goals.

Journalist students are not allowed many opportunities to get off track. To be involved in journalism, a person is constantly reporting, advertising, and researching for the next story he/she will deliver. How can a person maintain his/her focus consistent.

One good tip for students is to take advantage of writing lists. Lists benefit journalist students especially because writing a list of daily plans, homework, and meetings is a great way helping to manage his/her time. Seeing a schedule planned out for when there is free time to study or relax helps students know when to fit homework and other events in.

Another good tip is to not cram everything in at once. Whether it's allowing time to go for a run to clear the mind or watching a television show, taking small breaks in between tasks allows a person to tackle assignments with fresh eyes and a clear head.

One last tip is to remember to get enough sleep at night. Although it's the end of the year and people want to spend time with classmates, getting the right amount of sleep at night allows students to feel alert and more energetic throughout long days rather than simply going through the motions.

While receiving a lot of pressure from teachers, coaches, parents, and peers, students must remember that staying calm and balancing time evenly is the best solution to helping stay focused.

Although a person may feel frustrated, panic can take over a person's life and put him/her under additional unneeded stress.

Finishing the school year off with good grades and completed tasks can allow a person to feel great. Living a healthy lifestyle of rest and maintaining focus can allow a person to prevent stress.

So whenever you're feeling down in the dumps and like it's impossible to finish, always remember to take a deep breath and smile.

Photo Credit: Technical Significance via Creative Commons.

Read more...

Keep On Tweeting

As the year winds down, many BNR students at Simpson College are close to successfully completing their first semester of using Twitter.

Having become a huge fan of this website, I have found myself constantly tweeting and making connections outside of the requirements we are assigned to do for class.

As this school year ends, many of us may think about discontinuing our use of Twitter because we feel there is no longer a need for it. We won't be earning a grade for our participation on the website, so why bother?

Twitter can be very beneficial for writers that are receiving news and making connections with people of common interests. It has the ability to drive substantial amounts of business and help promote publicity, deals, and information about companies.

As many of us want to be involved in writing, marketing, advertisement, or public relations someday, being updated on the power Twitter has on our economy is something we should all be aware of.

Being an engaged and active member of Twitter will help you monitor breaking news and current events occurring across the nation. Being culturally literate is a helpful trait to have in the journalism world today.

Twitter can also be helpful when conducting a story because you can find sources, receive excellent feedback from dozens of people, and view opinions of a subject from others around the world.

Many journalists have taken advantage of the pros we can gain out of using Twitter. Whether it's getting advice, gaining fans for your writing, or using Twitter websites made for journalists such as MuckRack, continuing to use Twitter will help enhance a writing career in the future.

Photo Credit: Smashing Magazine via Creative Commons

Read more...

Finishing Strong

With the nice weather and school year wrapping up, many students at Simpson College are having a rough time staying focused on schoolwork.

But as writers, we know that the show must go on. We have news to deliver and stories to attack. So how exactly can we finish the school year without our minds concentrating on swimming pools and bonfires?

According to Dave Cheong, there are 11 techniques you can use to help stay focused on anything you are asked to tackle. Below, I have listed just a few tips that can be used very efficiently while working on a story.

The first tip is having well defined goals in your work. Whether it's writing them down in a book or simply remembering them, knowing what you want to accomplish as a writer can be made easier by setting guidelines for yourself.

Another suggestion made is breaking things into smaller chunks. As journalists, we have deadlines that we are required to meet. However, taking small breaks helps enable a clear mind and ability to perform at your best.

The third tip is enlisting family and friends for help. Whether it's tell them your goals or seeking their opinion on a story, these are the people in your life that can honestly tell you what kind of progress you are making.

One last tip that can be helpful to a writer is blocking out some time. Whether it's waking up earlier or simply setting aside a certain part of the day for a given task, this helps approach a story motivated and more focused. Afterward, you may find that you have time to go to get some ice cream or go run around in the nice weather.

Just because it's nice out, doesn't mean the news stops for us to have fun in the sun. As journalists, we must prioritize our tasks.

A personal solution I have for my BNR classmates is to go write a story outside in Buxton Park. By doing this, you can enjoy the benefits of good weather and a good story all at once.

With finals approaching us quicker than we think, it is a good time for Simpson students to stop and make a plan about finishing the year off strong.

Photo Credit: Learning Fundamentals via Creative Commons.

Read more...

The Right Body Image

Journalism plays a key role in shaping many minds about what their body should look like.

Magazines such as Cosmo, Seventeen, and People demand writers to show readers what the "ideal" body shape is in our society. Many times, this body shape is pressuring young women to have an extremely thin body.

Media writers have a huge impact on shaping people's beliefs, ideas, and images of themselves. People that have exposure to any type of mass media have been given what the "right" idea of an acceptable body shape is.

Faces of celebrities such as Mary-Kate Olsen, Lindsay Lohan, and Jessica Alba are plastered on
many magazines so readers can see what "real beauty" is supposed to look like walking down the streets of America.

Often times a magazine may leave out that many celebrities have been diagnosed with some type of eating disorder on his/her journey fitting into that size 0 pair of jeans, such as the three ladies listed above.

Which leaves writers with the question: How do you write a piece for readers and not offend anyone by giving them a negative image about his/her body?

Last week, Brian Steffen showed us the different angles there are to approaching a story when it is assigned.

There are many different approaches that can be used when writing about body image.

Create a human-interest story that could involve somebody who suffered from an eating disorder or put together a how-to piece on how readers can lose weight in healthy ways.

Another great tip for writers is to simply report the facts.

Don't make your story about the 105-pound celebrity with the fancy car and underground pool seem like that is what every person has to be like in order to survive.

People come in all different shapes and sizes. Know what you are reporting to readers may influence the daily life of somebody.

Use journalism as a positive tool to make readers feel good. When writing about a topic such as body image, report reality, not the celebrity world.

Photo Credit: The Chic Fashionista via Creative Commons

Read more...

Scanning is a No No

Last Monday I attended the Professional Communication Skills Workshop at Simpson College. Maria Volante, the senior vice president of Dardis Communications, focused on one main part of communicating with others, eye contact.

I have given many presentations throughout school, but I have always been taught to scan the audience. Until recently, I learned that scanning is something that can hinder a speaker's presentation.

Volante said that when speaking infront of an audience, the speaker should connect each thought with one set of eyes. This doesn't mean to stare at your audience, but to make things easier on yourself.

Now your asking, "How is looking at one person while speaking about one idea make it easier for me?"

If a speaker is scanning the audience the brain is processing all of the different images and faces it sees. This often makes the speaker lose focus and talk faster.

You now have the answer as to why you tend to zoom quickly through a presentation.

Next time you have to stand up in front of a group of people try connecting with certain eyes. Your brain will thank you later.

Photo Credit: Eric Feng via Creative Commons

Read more...

Why Should We Blog?

At the beginning of enrollment in BNR class, a majority of Simpson College students had never contributed to a blog in their life.

Many students pondered about this whole blogging business at the beginning of this course. Why would we need blogs? What are we going to write about for our blogs? How are we going to know what we're blogging about is useful? How do people even use blogs?

Traditionally, blogs started out as being a sort of online diary for people across the world. However, as blogging became more popular, many businesses and journalists decided to contribute to the blogging world to gain publicly.

Blogging has helped the journalist world in all different aspects. Once writers have exposed their work online, they are easily able to catch reader's attention. In result, they can receive feedback and gain subscribers to read their daily postings.

As you continue to blog, you will notice an improvement in your writing skills. For those who have previously blogged, think back to the very first blog you wrote. Now snap back to the present. Your writing portfolio and skills have improved tremendously because of your frequent interaction with writing.

What if you aren't interested in blogging for journalist purposes and promoting business? There are still many different reasons you can post your blogs online.

One last pro of becoming a blogger is you can even make profit from blogging. A lot of people blogging have not found themselves becoming a blogger to make money, but find out later that will end up doing so.

An unknown author once said, "Blogging is the new poetry."

If you have never blogged before reading this article, please consider the benefits of blogging. Go ahead and give starting your own blog a shot.

Photo Credit: Tutor2U @ Creative Commons

Read more...

Being A Freelance Journalist

Have you ever known somebody with a passion for writing but had another dream for his or her career? Talk to them about freelance writing.

A freelance journalist is a writer that can be self-employed and not committed to a specific employer for a long term.

With a passion and desire to be an Admissions Counselor someday, this has been something I have been taking deep consideration in for my future. Not only can you engage in a career you love, you can also continue to write about topics of your choice.

In the world today, there are billions of different people that will respond to situations in similar and different ways. As writers, many feel a good reason to write a story is because they have something relevant to say about a certain topic.

When writing a story, a journalist can always find at least one person that will feel what they wrote was newsworthy. A freelance journalist could write about something that engaged their interest and allowed them to specialize in their passions.

Another positive thing about being a freelance journalist is your hours are flexible, because you'd only be writing part-time. After a day at your job, it'd still be easy to go home and work behind your computer.

A person that is a freelance writer has the advantage of having profit to fall back on if something in their job went bad. While writing on the side, you can still make profit. There are many magazine and newspaper editors that wish to share other people's knowledge to their readers.

Many people associate freelance writing with freestyle writing. With many of us being college students interested in journalism, we should even consider starting a freelance writing career now to build our writing portfolios for future jobs and internships.

Photo Credit: Cambridge Who's Who Authors @ Creative Commons

Read more...

Benefits of E-books

Electronics run the world today, and with the latest creation, tablets, the world will change even more. Tablets such as the iPad, Nook Color, Sony Reader and Amazon Kindle are changing our world drastically by one simple feature, e-books.

E-books are books that can be read electronically on digital devices like computers or tablets in this case. These can be very helpful in the fact that a person doesn't have to carry around all of his or her books.

By downloading the books legally online a person can have hundreds or even thousands of books with them at once. This not only saves space, but it also allows a person to search for topics within the books.

For example, if a person needs to find a specific section in his or her textbook, he or she can search key words to help narrow the search down. This saves a great amount of time.

Another great thing about e-books is the bookmarking feature. A person can bookmark certain parts of an e-book to come back to. Whether it's where he or she left off in the book, or he or she wants to share it with another person.

For my second semester here at Simpson College I had to purchase 15 books. I spent nearly $300 on these books. Which brings me to another great benefit of e-books, cost. E-books are much cheaper than buying actual books and textbooks. There are even times when you can download the books for free.

My final point about e-books is the immediacy. When purchasing a book you have to go to the store or even buy it online, but with e-books it's only a click away. You can purchase all you're textbooks necessary for classes and any other reading materials that may interest you at your home.

I believe e-books are the next big thing in today's world. I think in the next five years if you look into a classroom you won't see textbooks sitting on students' desks, you will see e-books.

Photo Credit: Livia Iacolare, via Creative Commons

Read more...

Katie Buchholz 101

Hey! My name is Katie Buchholz. I am a Communications major and possibly a minor in Art History here at Simpson College. I am involved in theater, intramurals, PLC, and a Bible reading group. Around campus I am known as K-Fresh, so don't get confused! I grew up in a small town about 45 minutes from Indianola. In my day to day life I love to be goofy and spontaneous. I always try to see the bright side of things, and I am open for anything new. My roommate is my college best friend and you might see us playing video games in the Barker basement or singing our hearts out to Britney Spears in our room.

I look forward to writing a blog weekly and reading each others blogs!

Read more...

Morgan Abel, Now Blogging Weekly

My name is Morgan Abel and I am a senior at Simpson College in Indianola Iowa. I am a native to the Midwest and have spent the majority of my life in Iowa. I am very passionate about traveling and have taken the opportunity to travel abroad through Simpson College.

Read more...

Jeremy Dubois French Student's Blogger

My name is Jeremy Dubois. I am 23 years-old, I am french and I am currently a journalism student at Simpson College, Iowa. I am interested in sports, especially soccer, movies and world news.

Read more...

Nicole Dillenburg's First Blog

My name is Nicole Dillenburg and I am a junior at Simpson College. I am double majoring in Sports Administration and Integrated Marketing Communications.

Read more...

Amanda Hintgen's First Blog for BNR

I am Amanda Hintgen and I am a freshmen at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. I graduated from Maquoketa High School in 2010. I am currently enrolled in Beginning News Writing and Reporting.

Read more...

Erin Gerken's Introduction to Blogger

Hello, my name is Erin Gerken. I am currently a second semester freshmen at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. I am a member of the swim team, and I also participate in the Campus Activity Board, or CAB. I graduated from Cedar Rapids Prairie High School in 2010. This blog is being created for my Beginning News Writing and Reporting class.

Read more...

April Sigmund from Stanhope, IA.

My name is April Sigmund and I am a sophomore here at Simpson. I am currently undecided on a major and participate in the Simpson track team. I enjoy reading and watching movies with friends in my free time.

Read more...

Tierney Israel, Blogger Extraordinaire

I've been blogging for several years. My name is Tierney Israel. I'm an English major at Simpson College and I want to be a professional writer. I love writing and I've been doing it for fun since I learned how in Kindergarten. It's my passion and hopefully soon, it will be my career.

Read more...

Maddie Boswell on Blogger.com

Hi! My name is Maddie Boswell and I am from Humboldt, IA. I am currently a freshman at Simpson College majoring in Integrated Marketing Communications with a creative concentration and minoring in music and art. I am involved with women's choral, Starving Artists Club, RLC, yearbook, and I am a proud member of Pi Beta Phi! In my free time I enjoy playing eight different instruments/singing, photography, traveling, and spending time with my friends

Read more...

BNR Urging Students to be Media Savvy

My name is Katie Schober and I'm finishing up my English degree at Simpson College. I am from central Iowa, and have a brother who attends the University of Iowa. We share a love of music and art passed down by our dad, and an affinity for great cooking encouraged by our mother. My boyfriend Grant and I have a dog named Roswell, a cat named Maxine, and a hamster named Higgins.

Read more...

Charlie Sandvick, New Blogger

The name is Charlie Sandvick. I'm currently a sophomore at Simpson College majoring in IMC-Creative with a small side of Multimedia Journalism. I'm from a small town you've probably never heard of called Marengo, IA. When I left the population dropped severely. I'm on the softball team here at college. You can find me in the outfield. I like to hang out with my friends, participate in sports, watch football, and cheer on the Mizzou Tigers :)

Read more...