12  Developing writing techniques

Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light. (Joseph Pulitzer)

Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be grasped at once. (Cyril Connolly)

Journalists tend to sum up these attributes as readability. The sum of course is more than the parts. Sometimes you can see how it is done. ‘Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you’ (St Matthew, VII, vi). The anecdotes or metaphors of today’s journalists are akin to Christian ...

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