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

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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

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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

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Landing The Dream Journalism Job

The economy is definitely in the pits right now, and the world of journalism is seeing it first hand. Though the issues give them much to talk and write about, it is hurting them greatly. Journalism jobs are scarce everywhere, but there are ways to make yourself more marketable.

Since on-the-job training for entry-level positions is almost unheard of, earning a bachelor of arts in broadcasting or journalism is a more than great. Broadcasting companies usually hire those who have a degree and experience in the field. Another key is being an intern for a station. If someone aspiring for a job in this field can show them their skills and how hard they will work, hiring them when an opening comes can be an easy "yes" from their boss.

These skills that someone must show while being an intern aren't easy however. One most definitely cannot be the type of person who is shy and likes to sit back and watch. Working in the journalism field takes a lot. Flexibility is crucial. The hours and places are all over. This requires one to be able to control their stress and time in an efficient manner. Critical thinking skills are also a must in this field. Perhaps the most important key, is just working hard every single minute of every single day. The journalism field has no time for slackers.

Since many people's dream jobs is simply just that, a dream, it is often wise to look at other options in the field. It is common for people to want anchor and reporter jobs on TV news broadcasts. There are also news analysts and commentators. People can also be anchors and reporters on the radio. Producers, assignment editors and news directors may not be on camera, but play a key role. Though the newspaper business is declining, writing for newspapers and magazines are also jobs that many people are interested in doing. Another job that is not as well known is working for public relations in museums, schools, and nonprofit organizations which can include announcers, research correspondents, and production assistants.

Being in the journalism field can be rough. One may not get their dream job at ESPN or the Washington Post, but there is hope. Even though openings are hard to find and compete for, with the right skills, background, and mind set, landing the right job can become a little easier.

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