The great thing about Gartner's piece, "12 Step Program to Good Writing" it's a writing for dummies guideline that I think all writing professionals should follow and use as a reminder EVERY TIME they place their hands to a keyboard or pen to paper.
Though all 12-Steps are important but their are four elements I hope young writers, public relations professionals and students would place at the base of their professional foundation
Listen
Gartner
" The good writer must listen for the nuance, the emotion, the detail, the odd fact. The good writer must listen for the GREAT quote-- a quote, after all, is just the print version of a sound bite--must listen so carefully that he, or she, can follow through on a dropped hint, a fumbled answer or a punted reply."
For public relations professionals becoming an effective listener is the second most important skill, it's after writing and before working well with others. PR is a service and you have to remember your success is often judged on your clients reaching their goals and objectives. Good listening can save a client from making a mistake or finding a new innovative way to reach the audience they are targeting.
PR acts often has the middle man between an organization or individual and multiply audiences. So your ears must be open to both ends to create successful communication.
Simplify
Gartner
"The easiest thing for the reader to do is quit reading." So you have to keep the reader interested. You must not bore him. You must not confuse him. You must not alienate him or her.
You must cut the complex to the simple, you must turn the simple into the eloquent. You cannot be lazy, and you lose the reader often enough, you will lose your job"
We live in an era were NO ONE HAS TIME. I encourage PR people to remember that when trying to pitch something to a journalist or media outlet. The fact they took the time out to even read your pitch is a blessing in it self, so do not use up your good fortune by giving them pages of useless information. Often. you could have said that same information in one page.With that in mind remember, KEEP IT SIMPLE!
Your pitch letter should have the general idea of what yo are doing and why it's important. If they decide it is newsworthy they will call you, that why you leave contact information. The follow up call or email is the time you can give them more details.
Trust
Gartner
"Trust means honesty and respect, openness and courtesy. You simply cannot work with someone you don't trust."
Trust is everything, not just in your career but life in general. You can have all the accomplishment and experiences in the world but if you can not be trusted it's all for nothing. Nobody will never down you for being honest and straight forward with them.
Remember you have a duties to the clients you service to give them honest feed back and truthful input.
Trust is the NUMBER ONE ELEMENT in establishing creditably.
LOVE
Gartner
"You cannot be a good writer if you do not love writing and love reporting. It's simply impossible. If you do not love what you are doing , quit now and find another job, another line of work. For you'll never be happy--and you'll never be good."
You can not progress in a profession if you do not LOVE want you do. I am not talking about the good times but you have to love the bad ones. They low moment that keep you up at night. Often in those times is when you have the opportunity to become better.
You can only enjoy the finish product if you love the PROCESS. When i say "process" I mean the step by step tasks that get you to the end result. If your employer see passion for the process and you excel at given quality work consistently. You will find yourself taking on bigger roles and larger company projects.
Michael Gartner's testimony is valued wisdom to ANY writing professional both young and old. Its always good to see a very accomplished professional share their experiences for future generations to follow. I just hope we all listen. Beside no matter where you are in your career, you can always improve your writing.
To view the Full Micheal Gartner's "12 Steps Program to Good Writing" Click link below
http://journalism.unl.edu/cojmc/alumni/jnews/archive/97spring/gartner.html
LOVE
Gartner
"You cannot be a good writer if you do not love writing and love reporting. It's simply impossible. If you do not love what you are doing , quit now and find another job, another line of work. For you'll never be happy--and you'll never be good."
You can not progress in a profession if you do not LOVE want you do. I am not talking about the good times but you have to love the bad ones. They low moment that keep you up at night. Often in those times is when you have the opportunity to become better.
You can only enjoy the finish product if you love the PROCESS. When i say "process" I mean the step by step tasks that get you to the end result. If your employer see passion for the process and you excel at given quality work consistently. You will find yourself taking on bigger roles and larger company projects.
Michael Gartner's testimony is valued wisdom to ANY writing professional both young and old. Its always good to see a very accomplished professional share their experiences for future generations to follow. I just hope we all listen. Beside no matter where you are in your career, you can always improve your writing.
To view the Full Micheal Gartner's "12 Steps Program to Good Writing" Click link below
http://journalism.unl.edu/cojmc/alumni/jnews/archive/97spring/gartner.html
