Writing to Deadline: The Journalist at Work

by Donald M. Murray

Writing to Deadline takes the reader into the mind of the nonfiction writer, demystifying the process by which journalists clarify confusion and present significant information under demanding restrictions of time and space. This is an essential book for working journalists, professors and students of journalism, directors of newspaper inservice writing programs, and anyone who wants to learn more

Genres: Writing, Journalism, Nonfiction

218 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2000

About the author

Donald Morison Murray

Reviews

[Martha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't finish this book. Some of the portions about how particular newspaper writers work might have been instructive, but I borrowed this book from the library and I didn't have the patience to get through the author's reminiscences of how he got started in the newspaper business and the advice about how writing a good article means telling a story. I guess it would be good for someone just starting out in journalism who hadn't heard that type of advice before.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely FANTASTIC. This is a wonderful reference for anyone who wants to better hone their writing skills, particularly for media. I got a ton of great tips from this, although I am horribly intimidated by the thought that anyone might have to write 40-50 stories per night, and I feel really intimidated as well by Murray's claim that he writes the lead dozens and dozens of times before he settles on one. But despite my skepticism/suddenly crippling self-doubt, this does have a lot of good information.

For those who may be emotionally fragile like many of my generation are purported to be, I also heartily enjoyed The Associated Press Guide to News Writing: Jump-Start Your Career. Both these books are very good.

[The Reading Countess]

Read "Forms of Effective Leads" for nonfiction focus