In a post on CrimeReads, Ellen Crosby says writers can learn a lot about fiction by studying journalism. “If journalism is the first rough draft of history, fiction is where a writer gets to rewrite that draft and reorder the world to his or her liking,” she says. “Journalists who write fiction enjoy the best of both worlds, which might be one reason there are so many of us writing mysteries and thrillers.”
Based on her own experience writing both fiction and journalism, and interviews with other news writers, Crosby suggests the following takeaway:
- The habit of meeting deadlines. “The six o’clock news is on at six o’clock whether my story is fabulous or just good enough,” said Hank Phillippi Ryan, an award-winning television journalist, and author of 14 thrillers. Meeting deadlines means you can’t wait for the muse to visit. You also develop discipline and a good sense of how long it will take you to finish a project.
- The habit—and skill—of writing clearly and understanding story structure. “In an era where colleges and universities no longer offer English as a major because of declining enrollment and people are increasingly communicating with emojis, journalism stands out as one of the few careers with the essential requirement that you must have a good command of English,” Crosby writes. Hearing your work read aloud also highlights clunky phrasing, repeated words or phrases, and awkward, unclear sentence structure.
- The habit of observation. Journalists have to take thorough notes for their articles, which can help them develop an eye and ear for interesting details. “If you’re doing your job right, you’re meeting a lot of people from a lot of different walks of life, which gives you a feel for the various ways people talk, interact, deal with their problems, deal with their fears and insecurities, their gripes and grievances,” said Dan Fesperman. Taking and transcribing interviews can also give you an ear for natural sounding dialogue. “I spent years really listening to a wide swath of different people when they talked, writing down what they said and sometimes how they said it, and I credit that every time I get a compliment on the dialogue in my books,” said LynDee Walker.
- The habit of revision. “Journalists not only have deadlines, we have well-defined limits,” Crosby says. Printed articles must fit the space and on-air features have only a specific allotment of time. Exceeding those limits meant an editor might make drastic cuts to a story.
Are there caveats? Crosby says it can be difficult making the mental shift from hewing strictly to facts to having the freedom to completely make things up, and the journalists she interviewed agreed. Journalists must stick to the facts, but fiction writers are free to deviate within the bounds of our genre and storyworld.
