The Art of Column Writing: Insider Secrets from Art Buchwald, Dave Barry, Arianna Huffington, Pete Hamill and Other Great Columnists
Monday, July 19th, 2010 at
10:42 am
- ISBN13: 9781933338262
- Condition: New
- Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Product Description
Featuring some of the most famous columnists in the business, this guide reveals the secrets to becoming a syndicated newspaper columnist, through both the author’s own experiences and anecdotes from the respected writers who excel in their craft. From finding topics, to digging up information, and ultimately writing a column that makes people think, laugh, or cry, all the wisdom necessary to write opinion, humor, and insight columns is clearly presented in this in-depth manual.
Tags: writing workshop with dave barry, pete, satisfaction, secrets, product description, barry, experiences, people, anecdotes, humor
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This book is a minor miracle – and the miracle is that Suzette Martinez Standring has compressed so much valuable information into a book that is not only useful, informative, and funny, but also at times deeply moving. How can anyone do that in a How-To format? Partly it’s because she makes her points by quoting from some of the world’s best columnists, showing us what they do and how they do it. When she shows us what to look for we can read from material by Dave Barry, Arianna Huffington, Art Buchwald, and others, and get a real sense of what makes a column work. These truly are `insider secrets’ as she claims, and every one is to be prized beyond rubies.
Better yet is that Standring has interviewed all types of columnists and relays to us their wisdom about what it takes to write 500 words of thought-provoking writing several times a week. There’s far more expertise in these pages than the slim look of this volume would at first suggest. I’d prize that beyond pearls, too.
Best of all is that Standring is not afraid to ask the difficult questions about what makes a person want to become a columnist in the first place, and what that might mean in terms of commitment if one chooses that path. It’s that sort of question that most writers tend to skim over, since it’s always easier to tell a reader how to do something (as in `How to Write a Detective Novel’) than to engage with the deeper questions of why it might be an important life decision to take on that specific kind of writing. To do all this, and do it with humor? I’d prize that above everything.
Whether you want to discover how to write columns, to teach a class on how to write them, or just want to learn how to appreciate fully what columnists can tell us each day we read their words, this will be far and away the best book you could get hold of.
Dr Allan Hunter
Author of: Stories We Need to Know: Reading Your Life Path in Literature
http://www.allanhunter.net
Rating: 5 / 5
I am an author and syndicated columnist and thought I knew the business. Now that I have read The Art of Column Writing, I realize how little I did know.
I met Suzette when she served as President of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and that position gave her the chance to interact with everyone in the field. She puts in it a concise and easy to read format.
If you are a veteran journalist or just getting started, you can learn from this book. I wish it had been published before I started writing and glad that it is on the market now.
Don McNay
http://www.donmcnay.com
Rating: 5 / 5
As a columnist, it’s embarrassing to tell you that I didn’t know too much of what Suzette Standring reveals in this light volume. It has so much heavy information tamped down on each page, it’s amazing her book doesn’t plunge right through the table.
An easy, smiling read the first time; second time, get out your yellow highlighter.
That so many popular writers willingly contributed their secrets is a tribute to Ms. Standring’s ability to ask the right questions. Her own secrets of successful column writing are simple: Velcro your butt to the chair; A fresh angle is a sharp foot in the door; and Assigned to cover county news was like being plunked into a pilot’s seat and told “Land this thing!”
Many different writing styles are given, some by writers who use words that sashay across a page, some use words that slither or stride. Sandring’s strut.
A must read for journalism students and homemakers who want to communicate on a larger scale than husband and kids. After all, Erma Bombeck had to start somewhere. Standring tells you how.
Rating: 5 / 5
I have a pet peeve. Well, I suppose truth be told, I have several pet peeves. But the one most relevant to this book review is the trend of “how-to” and “you-can-do” books, often written by people with dubious credentials, or occasionally – no credentials at all.
“The Art of Column Writing” is NOT one of those publications. Suzette Martinez Standring approaches her topic with ample credentials, and innumerable anecdotes on the craft of column writing, collected from her own first-hand experiences, and contributed to from an A-list assortment of the nation’s best-read columnists.
Peppered throughout with her own rise throughout the ranks of a Boston newspaper, to national syndication of her own column, Standring has collected nuggets of wisdom from the likes of Dave Barry, Art Buchwald, and Arianna Huffington to name a mere handful of the book’s contributors. Practical, honest, and in some instances outright spellbinding- “The Art Of Column Writing” is a blueprint for anyone hoping to either enter or improve their skills in the ever-changing landscape of the newspaper column.
Standring has also picked up tips and tricks from her many years of association with the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, The Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, and any newspaper columnist she met with, that was willing to give her a few moments of their time. Like picking an overflowing basket of fresh strawberries, Standring has gathered journalistic gems and anecdotes in abundance. The end result is a frank, comprehensive and entertaining overview of what it takes to be successful as a columnist, right from the source.
Or sources, in this case…
Dan St.Yves
Columnist/Author
Rating: 5 / 5
I am a novice at column writing, and this book inspires me and provides me with so much good advice and information. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting the author, Suzette Standring, and she not only is an amazingly great writer, but ditto as a person. She is my inspiration, and her book is well deserving of major kudos. Her columns are also well worth reading. She’s a wonderful addition to the world of writing.
Rating: 5 / 5