Blogs by Shirley Ann Parker
To report or to comment
5/25/2006 9:29:42 PM
It's interesting how so many people expect writers to chronicle events, but not comment on them. In other words, we are to write, not editorialize. Depending on one's occupation, that can be a legitimate expectation. A journalist, for example, is trained to write just the facts and not use inflammatory words. (Such trained professionals may not be easy to find in a volatile world.)
Opinions are traditionally the realm of the Editor, who may also include an Op-Ed page for readers to share their insights and views on everyday events, especially political issues. However, too often, those pages are reserved for the professional columnist with "credentials" in a given field. After all, a "name" pulls in readers without offending advertisers.
That leaves the rest of us, who have to report and comment somewhere every day, or go crazy in between. Since so many of us switch hats every few days, or even every few hours, talents sprout and grow in many directions.
Always we have to remember our audience. That's the first rule of writing, after having something to say. Yet sometimes we also have to stop and pat the top of our heads to remember which hat we're wearing, before we lift off.
Are we Mary Poppins before lunch, or is today Peter Pan after lunch? Are we explaining the software behind web hosting, or trying to get through to a boss whose receiver batteries are dead? Are we editing a co-worker's manual tonight, or researching an expose on the denial of insurance claims?
To report or to comment is a delicate path to tread.
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More Blogs by Shirley Ann Parker
• Welcoming 2012 - Tuesday, January 03, 2012
• One down and two to go - Thursday, November 24, 2011
• Cannot believe the holidays are upon us - Friday, November 11, 2011
• Plumbing Nightmares - Monday, September 26, 2011
• This month it's been marketing - Saturday, August 13, 2011
• Venturing further into e-books - Sunday, July 24, 2011
• And the foreclosures continue - Saturday, July 02, 2011
• A Satisfying Genealogy Conference - Tuesday, June 21, 2011
• Between the Spaces of A Writer's Life - Saturday, June 04, 2011
• Time to Move Forward - Friday, December 10, 2010
• I have lost an entire year but... - Friday, December 10, 2010
• Now here's a situation for you! - Tuesday, April 14, 2009
• Patricia Highsmith Understood - Saturday, July 05, 2008
• This isn't the life I ordered - Sunday, March 02, 2008
• California Wildfires - Saturday, November 10, 2007
• Life as it is lived - Friday, October 05, 2007
• Are you a Notary Public? - Monday, June 04, 2007
• Time is flying by...much too fast! - Sunday, May 20, 2007
• Reminder! The Ballad of Billy Lee - Saturday, December 02, 2006
• To My Reviewers - Friday, November 24, 2006
• The Ballad of Billy Lee - save the date! - Monday, October 09, 2006
• Being lethargic or daydreaming? - Sunday, September 03, 2006
• A Lone Voice Can Make a Difference - Monday, August 14, 2006
• To report or to comment - Thursday, May 25, 2006
• Mallards at a business park? - Sunday, April 30, 2006
• Mobile Home Alert! - Tuesday, April 11, 2006
• Heard about Book Millionaire? - Thursday, April 06, 2006
• Well, the results are in.... - Monday, March 13, 2006
• Pins and Needles Time - Monday, February 20, 2006
• A Little Disappointed with the Writers' Conference - Tuesday, February 07, 2006
• A Dream Scrambling to Survive - Sunday, January 15, 2006
• An After-Christmas Sale - Sunday, January 08, 2006
• Happy New Year! - Saturday, December 31, 2005
• It's Over for Another Year - Monday, December 26, 2005
• What Do We Write in December? - Sunday, December 18, 2005
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