PR 101

So on Monday I laid the beginnings of my writing primer. Today, I want to talk about actual writing. I could fill another 20 blogs on the dos and don’t of writing properly. Obviously, I am not going to that. I do want to cover some of more of the basics of good writing.

First, one of my favorite statements on writing – it comes from Mark Twain – is:  “I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English – it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them – then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice.” Letter to D. W. Bowser, 20 March 1880.

That first sentence is the key to all good writing. Keep it simple. Twain also once noted he got paid the same amount for using the word cop as he did for using policeman. It is a good lesson. Too many people think that their writing had to be full of long words and even longer sentences. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Simple is always best.

The other author I suggest most writers emulate is Ernest Hemingway. Here from “Ernest Hemingway on Writing” – edited by Larry W. Phillips – are the best writing tips I have ever found. I follow them religiously. I give them to you because I cannot do any better. They are:

• Start with the simplest things.
• Boil it down.
• Know what to leave out.
• Write the tip of the iceberg; leave the rest under the water.
• Write what you see.
• Listen completely.
• Write when there is something you know, and not before.
• Look at words as if seeing them for the first time.
• Use the most conventional punctuation you can.
• Distrust adjectives
• Learn to write a simple declarative sentence
• · Tell a story in six words (Hemingway did just that. The story is “For sale: baby shoes, never used.”)
• Read everything so you know what you need to beat
• Don’t try to beat Shakespeare
• Accept that writing is something you can never do as well as it can be done.
• Don’t drink when you’re writing.
• Finish what you start.
• Don’t worry. You’ve written before and you will write again.
• Forget posterity. Think only of writing truly.
• Write as well as you can with no eye on the market.
• Write clearly – and people will know if you are being true.
• Just write the truest sentence that you know.
• Remember that nobody really knows or understands the secret.
• And the best tip of all – go fishing in summer.

If you follow what Twain and Hemingway have to say, you will turn out good copy.

It was a warm Friday afternoon in Milwaukee – Aug. 23, 1991 to be exact. I was riding on an elevator at about 4:30 p.m. in what is now the U.S. Bank Building. On that same elevator were two younger men – each hauling lots of documents on a handcart. They were complaining loudly that the need to get to Federal Bankruptcy Judge Russell Eisenberg’s court and file those documents was going to kill their Friday night.

Intrigued, I listened as we made the 40 story ride down. I soon discerned that the pair were associates at local law firms. They were off to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy documents for the Milwaukee-based retailer P.A. Bergner & Co. The filing was being made late Friday with the idea that the company would make the announcement on Monday. It would give the executives time to talk to analysts, suppliers, employees and others to mitigate damage to the company’s stock and standing. Like any smart company, they were trying to control the story.

It was a great idea – but it had a flaw. Two very loud-mouthed attorneys talking when they had no idea who else was listening. True, I was wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. My rule as a reporter was to blend with my surroundings. I had been doing an interview at a law firm, so I dressed like an attorney. Still, they had no way of knowing who I was. If they assumed I was a disinterested bystander, they made a very bad calculation.

As soon as the elevator arrived at the ground floor, I not-so-calmly waited for the pair to walk out. This being before cell phones, I sprinted to a bank of pay phones, called my editor, filled him in, and then called Judge Eisenberg’s chambers. He told me to come over and he would give copies of all of the filings. They were public record.

The next morning the banner headline in The Milwaukee Sentinel was the bankruptcy story. At the time, it was the largest retail bankruptcy in the United States. It made national news. P.A. Bergner and its law firm lost control of the story because two attorneys couldn’t’t stay quiet. Instead of spending Monday talking to stakeholders, the company spent Monday scrambling to deal with the story. The company had to play catch-up for the rest of the week.

I think the rule here is obvious, but I will state it anyway: never talk about anything that has to be kept private when you’re in public. Just don’t do it. Don’t think because you are in a crowded, noisy restaurant, or a cab that someone won’t hear what you say. The only place to discuss any sensitive matter is in a closed room in your office. A discussion in any other venue is asking for trouble.

Now I can hear some of you saying what I did was unethical – that I should not have been listening to a private conversation. Not my problem. My job as a reporter was to report the news. This was news. Besides, when you have a conversation in a public place in front of a stranger, you cede all rights to privacy. That goes for a family matter also. Just don’t do it.

For that matter, does anything really think if P.A. Bergner competitor had been on that elevator they would have stayed quiet? Of course not.

Mark Twain explained it best: “Journalism is the one solitary respectable profession which honors theft (when committed in the pecuniary interest of a journal,) & admires the thief….However, these same journals combat despicable crimes quite valiantly–when committed in other quarters.”

Incidentally, when you are having a closed-door meeting, make sure you know who’s outside the door. Yes, people listen at doors. I used to when I covered government meetings. Often, the body would go into closed session to discuss some matter they viewed as sensitive. Wisconsin law requires that any vote on such a matter be taken in public. So, I would wait around for the group to come out and vote.

While I was waiting, I would make a point to pull my chair up close to the door to listen and take notes. I got some good information doing that. The president of the Milwaukee School Board once complained to the editor of The Milwaukee Sentinel about me doing that. I got a raise as a result. That should tell you where an editor’s loyalties lie.

As I keep saying, reporters have a job to do. Whether they blog, broadcast the news, write for an on-line publication, or for a traditional printed newspaper, their job is to report the news. It is not to worry about your sensibilities. So don’t expect they will.

Instead, don’t hand them a story by talking in public. It seems so simple, but I see examples all of the time of being violating that rule. Why, I will never understand.

A corollary of that is leaving sensitive documents on your desk. As a reporter, I got really good at reading upside down. I once interviewed the Milwaukee’s Director of City of Development. Lying on his desk – facing him – was a memo about some property the city was going to purchase. I read it, called the seller, and had a nice little story.

The bottom line in all of this is be cautious what you say and where you say it. Better to be cautious and keep a secret. It is just the best course.
My background: I worked as a reporter for 25 years in central Illinois, upstate New York, suburban Detroit and Milwaukee. I now help companies with marketing communications through my company – JJC Communications LLC. If you want to know more about my company, and myself, click the link.
I am available for speaking on media relations, or counseling your company on that or on your other public relations needs. I can be reached at 414-763-8310 or jjccomm@wi.twcbc.com.