Members wacopacco Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 so i love books, i love reading, and i love writing.... Anyone here done time at school for journalism? I'm thinking about doing some of my own fiction and trying to get some stuff out there. I might have a decent contact with a publisher... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzinator Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I have a Journalism degree. I don't think it would help you write fiction, though. Two totally different disciplines. You might want to look into Creative Writing programs, or an English degree. Both would certainly help you develop strong writing skills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Psychedelic Trip Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I do Media at Uni, just starting my second year and i'm considering doing journalism. Within my degree there are a whole lot of creative writing classes though which would be of great help. I imagine they offer some form of Media degree in the States. Ours allows you to choose anything from film and radio to journalism and public relations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wacopacco Posted January 31, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I have a Journalism degree. I don't think it would help you write fiction, though. Two totally different disciplines. You might want to look into Creative Writing programs, or an English degree. Both would certainly help you develop strong writing skills. i'm not just interested in fiction. I'd love to get a job someday for a magazine or whatever. Just basically thinking right now, i've done no research... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzinator Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 Some Journalism degrees start off with a couple of years of foundation, and then allow you to focus on a discipline, such as magazine writing. That's the kind of degree I would have taken if I had known better. My degree focused on news writing for newspapers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jasonfuzz Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I'm a creative writer but it's a terrible career so I mostly just do it for my own amusement and coming up with ideas for sitcoms. My current idea is a relatively smart black guy falls asleep and when he wakes up, white people and black people have changed roles in society. All of a sudden history has flipped around and it's wrong to say the word cracker and honky in a racial context and it's perfectly fine to nigger. Also there are way more black people in America than there are white people and they mostly live in the heartland. The show revolves around adjusting to his new life as a member of society who isn't oppressed in any way and dealing with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sense_of_henry Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 http://www.ukings.ca/kings_3433.html My girlfriend was in this program, it is excellent. They also offer a 1-year degree for those who already have an undergrad degree. (research'd). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trlkvsky Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I'm a creative writer but it's a terrible career so I mostly just do it for my own amusement and coming up with ideas for sitcoms. My current idea is a relatively smart black guy falls asleep and when he wakes up, white people and black people have changed roles in society. All of a sudden history has flipped around and it's wrong to say the word cracker and honky in a racial context and it's perfectly fine to nigger. Also there are way more black people in America than there are white people and they mostly live in the heartland. The show revolves around adjusting to his new life as a member of society who isn't oppressed in any way and dealing with it. Wow. That's a real clever idea for a TV show. Have you written a script so far? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jasonfuzz Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 No, I just came up with it this afternoon in class. I was reading over my friend's shoulder and she had this section in her book about homosexuals in south africa and there was a heading called "gay security squad". I didn't read the chapter but the heading just brought a whole world of images. From there I was thinking about oppressed groups having a security squad and then I wondered what it would be like if black people and white people switched sides overnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jasonfuzz Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I was also thinking about a show about a gay security squad but I was pretty sure it already exists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gorebuc Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I'm an English Lit major; I did six hours of journalism studies. Honestly, I felt that like was just enough. In the end, experience is what counts in journalism. I've got the basics of journalistic style down and my literature studies have given me a huge knowledge base. I wouldn't have any qualms about applyling for a job in journalism with my non-specialized education. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trlkvsky Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I'm an English Lit major; I did six hours of journalism studies. Honestly, I felt that like was just enough. In the end, experience is what counts in journalism. I've got the basics of journalistic style down and my literature studies have given me a huge knowledge base. I wouldn't have any qualms about applyling for a job in journalism with my non-specialized education. Same here... I've done a B.A. in philosophy and am presently completing my Master's in comparative literature. I know how to write, and especially how to write well (in French though, I wouldn't claim as much for English), so I would imagine that should hold up when applying for a job at a magazine, for example. Edit: Come to think of it, I actually know a few people from school who've done about as much. The problem is that writing for a magazine isn't always a steady gig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NITEFLY182 Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I'm graduating in May from The University of Maryland with a BA in Journalism. A lot of people can write inverted pyramid and convey facts in journalistic style. It takes a whole other breed to be a successful long form feature writer, which is what you'll encounter in magazines. You have to have an eye and an ear for good writing. Further, while many people can write, few can get people to trust them, talk to them, and give them info that is hard to get. You have to be good at accepting rejection and approaching random people to talk to them when they almost assuredly don't want to talk to you. There isn't a lot of money to be had in journalism either, at least for the first several years. The hours often aren't great and you don't really get to do what you want until you establish yourself as a good writer. Keep in mind that it isn't a good industry to get into in general since print media is losing steam with every year. Fewer jobs and more competition to be had than ever before. All I'm saying is you have to be really good to get that job with Rolling Stone and even a major metro daily. Good luck! And now back to a long night of editing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members capnbringdown Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 That sounds more like English then Journalism, at least at my school. They're completely seperate departments. In the end, you don't really need to take a creative writing class to help you with your fiction. You can usually just take a creative writing, no matter what major you are. I'd check with your school first before doing this, but you could probably go for Journalism, if that's what you're really interested in, and just take the creative writing courses on the side. Though the other writing classes I've taken, namely Advanced Comp, have been extremely helpful. Journalism majors had to take that class, anyway. Same here... I've done a B.A. in philosophy and am presently completing my Master's in comparative literature. I know how to write, and especially how to write well (in French though, I wouldn't claim as much for English), so I would imagine that should hold up when applying for a job at a magazine, for example. Liar! Just kidding, though seriously, most philosophy majors can't write. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members squareking Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 A lot of people can write inverted pyramid and convey facts in journalistic style. It takes a whole other breed to be a successful long form feature writer, which is what you'll encounter in magazines. Meh, I think they have the same requirements. Feature stories have a certain structure just like hard news stories. Although it is tough to stay fresh as a features writer. I'm a News Ed major at Oklahoma State Univ. I be editin' all these n00b's mistakez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phishmarisol Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 Wow they'll let you major in anything these days! (JK, I majored in philosophy). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hopeless Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 I'm an english/journalism dual major and here is what I can bassically tell you about the two. English- Don't even bother majoring in this, essentially it is a major about reading not writing. Anything full on "English" majors write is mostly critical discourse reguarding well know and often discussed writiers. My last major bit of writing in this sort of vein was an exploration of sexuality in the short stories of Hawthorne (Doesn't that sound riviting???). Don't do it. Studying english at the collegiate level is several hours a day of suffering through avid readers who love to hear themselves talk, it's not exactly rewarding but I'm nine credits away from the degree, so I might as well roll with it right? Journalism- Fast paced, exciting, stressful, intense, you WILL have to go out and find stories and you WILL have to write them as the teach you to. It's not exactly a creative field, unless you're really really good, and then you can make it whatever you want it to be. To be honest though some great authors started as jounalists and journalism can really really help you be concise as an author and teach you a lot about how to convey your ideas in the most effective manner. The long and short of journalistic writing is it is a LOT of fun. But not as much fun as being a full on sucessful writer. You are, as a journalist, always bound by rules, deadlines, and other influences that keep you on a sort of straight and narrow of journalise, and you're going to have to prove yourself in a big way before you get a chance to break out of this path. Anywho, if you think you can write, then {censored}ing write, no school in the world can MAKE you a writer. If you have it you have it, if you don't all the education in the world will just make you okay, but not great. I say, just like guitar, practice all the time, find places you might have a chance at publication, but most of all if it's not your LIFE then best of luck. Most really good authors I've been around are flat out obessed. It just comes with the territory. But if you think you've got it then I say no one can teach you more than just experimenting and learning yourself. That's how the greats have done it nine times out of ten. edit: By the way Wacco, your clips on google/youtube are {censored}ing fantastic. My dear friend bought a Mayo based mostly on you rendition of the White Stripes song I'm told. So props to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NITEFLY182 Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 Id like to add a few things that havn't been addressed by other journalists in the thread. Given the least decade of plagiarists and fabricators, you should probably never mention fiction in a journalism school. Journalists work in the realm of fact although some things that happen are fantastic enough to seem like fiction. People will call you out on {censored} too unlike most other jobs. Your career is always on the line and your credibility is as important as your abilities. If you sort of float through classes without doing a lot of work you might not do well in journalism classes right away. Most news writing classes will involve simulated press conferences and then extreme deadline writing - 500-800 words of solid hard news in about 15-20 minutes. That goes for the premier journalism schools anyway - Northwestern, Columbia, and Maryland are considered the top 3 in the nation. At Maryland most classes are in labs where all programs have inactive spellcheck functions. Any and all style and spelling errors remove significant points. Sometimes a full letter grade. A misspelled proper name or wrong fact is automatic failure. This is every day of class. There were points where I was breaking out in a sweat as papers were handed back. For some reason Im still into this. If I could give one piece of advice to dudes it would be this though: get real papers to publish you. Most of my instructors are "real-life" journalists. More than one has taken a month off during the semester to go to Iraq or New Orleans. These people often dont even have journalism degrees, they just have a lot of experiance and that trumps a piece of paper you dropped $100,000 for. If you can get a job reporting on the cops in your town or a minor city beat do it. Youll learn much faster and you might get paid. Finally - check this stuff out. Gay Talese - Frank Sinatra has a Cold (Considered the greatest story ever printed in the media)Ken Fusen - A moment in their livesRoy Peter Clark - writing toolsBlake Morrison - Four Hours of Fear These are dudes that are really really good and have superior talent. The best way to get good is to read the best and think how they think. # Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fernmeister Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 I have two friends who are professional journalists. One works as an editor for a big name publication and has written for the New Yorker, Newsweek, etc. The other writes freelance business stuff and is working on a book about investing. Both studied literature, neither has any journalism "qualifications," both have huge "networks" and I've heard both make scathing remarks about young journalism grads. FWIW, that might give you some insight into what old farts (i.e., people over 30) in the business think. I'm pretty sure they would both say that if your passion is to be a writer in the general sense, then go study literature and take a journalism course down the road if and when you need it. A journalism degree is a really specific course of study for an area of the writing world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Goodison Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 I was considering going into journalism. Howver, after reading this thread, i really don't think its for me. So i guess i should say thanks for the guidance, and no thanks for the fact that i have to try and choose another career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gorebuc Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 I'm an english/journalism dual major and here is what I can bassically tell you about the two.English- Don't even bother majoring in this, essentially it is a major about reading not writing. Anything full on "English" majors write is mostly critical discourse reguarding well know and often discussed writiers. My last major bit of writing in this sort of vein was an exploration of sexuality in the short stories of Hawthorne (Doesn't that sound riviting???). Don't do it. Studying english at the collegiate level is several hours a day of suffering through avid readers who love to hear themselves talk, it's not exactly rewarding but I'm nine credits away from the degree, so I might as well roll with it right? Your English department must suck really bad. I almost transferred schools to study Journalism; I'm glad I didn't. My experience as an English major has been both "riviting" and relevant. I can't imagine a more well rounded discipline than the study of literature. I've learned more psychology, sociology, history, and philosophy in my Lit courses than anywhere else. I honestly don't read anymore than I need to; I'm into Literature for the understanding of everything that the study provides. Nothing is more rewarding than developing your own critical analysis of a work, no matter how many times its been written on. My last paper was a structuralist analysis of Huck Finn's moral structure; I'm gearing up for my senior thesis now. In fact, I'm going on to graduate studies in Literature. I guess its personal preference, though. We do love to hear ourselves talk, though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blackjack davey Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 I'm a creative writer but it's a terrible career so I mostly just do it for my own amusement and coming up with ideas for sitcoms.My current idea is a relatively smart black guy falls asleep and when he wakes up, white people and black people have changed roles in society. All of a sudden history has flipped around and it's wrong to say the word cracker and honky in a racial context and it's perfectly fine to nigger. Also there are way more black people in America than there are white people and they mostly live in the heartland.The show revolves around adjusting to his new life as a member of society who isn't oppressed in any way and dealing with it. This was already done back in 1995 when Travolta was trying to cash in on his Pulp Fiction comeback. http://www.amazon.com/White-Mans-Burden-John-Travolta/dp/0783115008/sr=8-3/qid=1170340965/ref=pd_bbs_3/103-0682317-1534230?ie=UTF8&s=dvd Tagline: Two men at odds in a world turned upside down. Plot Synopsis: The story takes place in alternative America where the blacks are members of social elite, and whites are inhabitants of inner city ghettos. Louis Pinnock is a white worker in a chocolate factory, loving husband and father of two children. While delivering a package for black CEO Thaddeus Thomas, he is mistaken for a voyeur and, as a result, loses his job, gets beaten by black cops and his family gets evicted from their home. Desperate Pinnock takes a gun and kidnaps Thomas, demanding justice. P.S. the movie sucked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blackjack davey Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 I too am an English major and the only careers per se that I could find with this degree were technical writing and teaching. Writing owner's manuals for a living was not that exciting so I have since moved on and am currently teaching high school English. I also taught the Journalism program at my school and +1 to all of the comments stating that it is a completely different ballgame. More facts and figures than fiction and prose. Less creativity and more serious matter for a quickly diminishing career field. Maybe you could consider setting up a Blog or a Creative Writing website for starters before plunking down all of that cash for a Journalism degree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wacopacco Posted February 1, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 hmm, any novelists in here? It definately doesn't seem like journalism would be a good fit for me. Any book writers in here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trlkvsky Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 Hehe. I have the secret ambition to one day find the time to write a novel. Right now I'm stuck on my master's thesis and it's driving me insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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