Writing as Craft and Magic

Book excerpt: Writing as Craft and Magic, Second Edition, outlines a compelling approach to conceiving, reporting, organizing, and writing articles for today's media. The book revolves around the central idea that writers improve most quickly by combining the powers of technique ("craft") with creativity ("magic"). Applying this method to news and feature writing--both print and online--it focuses on leads, organization, transition, clarity, drama, and other elements that drive good writing toward excellence. Aimed at students in upper-level undergraduate writing and reporting courses, Writing as Craft and Magic provides a clear and succinct instructional system--with practical models, a wealth of examples, and step-by-step guides--to help students understand and apply craft and magic to daily assignments. Author Carl Sessions Stepp, a seasoned journalist at the national level, structures his system in three parts. He first evokes the art of writing, then applies that art to standard journalistic writing, and concludes with a strong section on advanced writing techniques for features. He also offers advice and tips on how newsrooms currently operate in the age of multimedia journalism. This revised edition includes an expanded exercise section at the end of each chapter, more coverage of the demands of multimedia journalism (convergence), and updated chapters on incorporating the Internet into research and writing for the daily news cycle.