The Reporter's Notebook

My initial reaction to this book after flipping through it, "Is this for pre-schoolers?" The big, cartoonish font throughout the pages threw me off a little bit.

After reading the information, I realized just how handy the little book was. I liked how it's geared specifically toward writing for a student paper.

One of the first things I came across that was new to me were the differences between hard and soft news. First of all, I felt a little embarassed when the latter fell under the category of "Basic Journalism Vocabulary." Truthfull, I never really took the time to even notices the distinct differences. Hard news is news that is stricly factual, and soft news is more entertaining (in a sense).

Another helpful tip was a remedy for writer's block: GO SOMEPLACE ELSE! Ever since gaining that advice, I get up from my desk and go someplace else for information, and I usually work much more efficiently.

Not only did I learn information from the book, but I learned a good lesson. Flip through something you normally wouldn't take a second glace at, you never know what help you might find.