7.2: Do's and don'ts

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Title: Decisions. The words "Yes" and "No" carved into granite blocks placed in a brick wall. 
(Unsplash free-to-use license; Florian Schmetz)

Classic broadcast writing textbooks have lists of dozens or even hundreds of guidelines—things to do and not to do. This section is a summary that offers 10 "do's" and 10 "dont's" that seem to be the most helpful to students in audiovisual writing courses. These tips all apply to writing audiovisual news. Most apply to others types of audiovisual content as well.

Each tip is followed by a brief explanation and an example where helpful

Do...

Write in a conversational tone.

Viewers and listeners want to engage with stories. Meet them with a tone that matches their expectations and hopes.

Example: Tens of thousands of college students every spring choose to skip parties and do service projects instead. The popularity of alternative spring break is booming. Students say they find projects like spreading literacy, teaching about art and science, or cleaning up waterways fulfilling and fun.

Revise until scripts are clear and sharp

Most audiovisual scripts start out wordy. In our everyday conversations, we often say more than is necessary. Revising helps to maintain tone while eliminating unneeded words.

Example: The author’s first draft of the first sentence of the previous passage needed some edits. Originally, it read as follows: “Tens of thousands of high school and college students go on alternative spring break every year to do service projects instead of partying at clubs.”

The edit removed references to high schoolers because they are not the focus of this story. Sometimes editing requires removing excess facts, even if they are accurate.

The revised first sentence focuses on actions, i.e. skipping parties and doing service projects, rather than the concept of alternative spring break, which was simply pushed to the next sentence.

Use the active voice when possible.

We use the active voice to paint better mental images.

Example: This sentence focuses on a bag: “The bag of gold coins was taken from the woman before she could lock it in her safe.”

This sentence focuses on the action: “Robbers ripped a bag of gold coins from an elderly woman’s hand before she could lock it in her safe.”

This is the same information, but the second version paints a more vivid picture.

Search your own copy for sentences that place the object first and that use some version of “was + verb + -en” (was beaten, was stolen, was awakened, etc.) to find possible passive constructions to fix.

Use the present tense when it makes sense.

This advice is particularly potent for audiovisual newswriters who should use the present tense to describe ongoing events but who should not pretend events that happened yesterday are still going on.

Example of good use of the present tense: Two suspects accused of burglarizing a convenience store are set to appear in court later today.

Example of the false present: Two suspects burglarize a convenience store and are nabbed by police within hours. It happened last night...

The first example is about events occurring now or that are soon to occur. The second example takes last night's news and forces it to masquerade as today's.

Start strong, particularly in newswriting.

In audiovisual newswriting, the lead sentence is the most important part of a story, but it should not sound like the start of a newspaper story. Audiovisual leads should include a bit of context and the most important information in broad terms.

Specifics, such as the names of individuals involved (unless they are famous) or information about how and why an event took place can be included later.

Video news example: 
The average price of a new home in Las Vegas continues to rise.
Local realtors say the average new single-family home price shot up 20 thousand dollars from January to February.

Note that the lead sentence is short and sweet. The attribution, specific amount, and time frame are all included near the top of the story, but the audiovisual news lead is attention-getting and as clear as possible.

Develop your own understanding first

Before you can write about an event, be sure you understand what happened. A tip for newswriters applies to all types of audiovisual writing. Make sure you can clearly state the Who, What, Where, When, and Why of a story before attempting to write it.

Always include a step in-between information gathering and writing where you outline these in your mind, on paper, or on a phone or computer. Here you will recognize the difference between facts necessary to the narrative and bits of dialog, a.k.a. soundbites in news, that pack emotional punch.

Use action verbs where possible.

Choose verbs that illustrate the action over more commonplace verbs. It is best to use subject-verb-object construction, which will also cause you to write in the active voice, per tip #3.

Example: The slugger smacked a two-run homer over the left-field wall in the bottom of the second.

Here, “slugger” is the subject, “smacked” is the verb, and “homer” refers to the homerun ball, i.e. the direct object. This is much better than writing: “Another home run was hit in the bottom of the second.” Even though it uses more words, the preferred version paints an image in the mind’s eye.

Include only one idea per sentence.

Instead of stacking multiple concepts into a complex sentence, in audiovisual writing it is preferable to simply use two shorter sentences.

Example of an overly complex sentence: Organizers say the event brought in more than one thousand families caring for someone with Parkinson’s disease, and they were excited to learn of a surprise Zoom chat with Michael J. Fox.

Using two sentences conveys the information more clearly: Event organizers say more than one thousand families attended the event. Guests say they were surprised Michael J. Fox joined via video chat.

If you want a word to stand out, put it at the end.

This guideline needs to be balanced with others, but if possible, put a strong word at the end of a sentence if you want it to pack a powerful punch.

Example: The crowd broke out in an uproar.

This is particularly preferable to burying the force of the word by using its adjective form. The sentence, “The uproarious crowd made itself known,” manages to be both awkward and anticlimactic.

Always read your copy aloud.

To best understand how an audience will receive copy written for the ear, you need to hear it. Reading your copy aloud will help you find places to tighten and clarify. It may also help you avoid confusing homophones.

Example of a sentence that could be improved: A tax on cigarette smokers will become law with the start of the new year.

The previous sentence probably does not look confusing on the page or screen, but spoken aloud in a live broadcast it could cause confusion. (Sounds like "Attacks...")

A better version would be something like this: “A new statewide cigarette sales tax will go into effect January first.”

Don’t…

Don’t make factual errors.

This goes without saying for broadcast news content, but writers of audiovisual fiction also need to be careful to check facts. Nothing kills the suspension of disbelief more quickly than finding a glaring factual error. Review all copy for inconsistencies and errors. Even the most fantastical audiovisual creations must be rooted in the familiar, and if something is familiar to a mass audience, some part of that audience will look for your mistakes.

Don’t use language from advocates if your goal is to be neutral.

This is another guideline from newswriting that works for all types of audiovisual writing. People prefer to be shown examples of ethical vs. unethical and moral vs. immoral behavior. They do not generally watch news or entertainment content to be preached to.

If you are writing for a mass, diverse audience, it is usually a good idea not to adopt the language of advocates for extreme positions. In some cases, interviewees in news and characters in fictional stories may express extreme views, but these should be utilized out of duty to the audience and community stakeholders not out of laziness.

Rule of thumb: Rather than using language directly from a campaign's news release, think critically about how you might convey whatever bits of information are relevant for your audience from your own perspective as a reasonable person who is neither too accepting of nor too critical of the individual politician in question or their party. 

Don’t use racist or sexist language.

Unless the writer has compelling reasons to allow a character or an interviewee to use offensive language, it is best not to present a mass audience with language that will offend them. It is not enough to merely avoid obvious slurs. Writers need to familiarize themselves with language considered racist or otherwise offensive and work to eliminate it from their writing.

Purposeful use of racist or other loaded language may be valid when writing fiction if it is used in a context where the audience is likely to understand why the word choice is necessary for setting, plot, characterization, etc. Only use racist language in newswriting if it is essential for accuracy, and redact the worst of it so it is neither seen nor heard if your audience may contain children who pick up words without understanding context.

Example: Sometimes a spectator will use blatantly sexist language about a woman athlete and say something like, "She's amazing. She plays really well, for a girl." If you air this as a soundbite it will likely be taken as tacit approval by an audience. You can either edit the soundbite to capture accurately what the spectator feels without indicating their condescension: "She's amazing." 

Or, you may simply find someone else to interview. In most cases when covering sports there are plenty of other spectators you could turn to for soundbites who are not sexist (or racist, or ethnocentric, or xenophobic, or homophobic, etc.).

Don’t overuse the command tense.

Audiences usually do not wish to be bossed around. Use of the command tense is particularly aggravating in advertising.

Rule of thumb: Generally avoid telling people what to do in your media writing. (For textbooks, however, sometimes the command tense is appropriate.)

Don’t tell audiences how to feel.

The excessive use of adjectives or adverbs to try to elicit emotional responses is annoying to audiences. Rather than telling them directly how they are meant to feel about certain characters, events, or story subjects in the case of audiovisual journalism, craft a story that gets the feeling across through circumstances, dialog, and other uses of sound.

Rule of thumb: If you find yourself using adjectives or adverbs related to emotions, strive to cut back or eliminate them altogether. This is particularly important in newswriting but even in entertainment writing the audience would rather be made to feel something than told how to feel.

Example: Instead of writing that a child had an exciting time at the state fair, write that their eyes grew wide when they petted a prize hog and they couldn't stifle a scream when riding on the Ferris wheel.

Don’t use slang.

Using slang is not edgy or creative. It forces listeners to notice the writer’s word choices rather than their words' meanings. Using slang, unless it is for a targeted audience from someone within that same group, can be annoying, frustrating, or even discouraging for audiences. Also, most slang has an expiration date that writers may not be aware of.

Example: (From a 40-something writer directed to a mass audience) I’m not gonna lie, but, on God, the young man’s radical outfit was on fleek. No cap; It was boss.

Don’t start audiovisual news stories with quotes or questions.

It is considered jarring to deliver a soundbite or actuality without context. Question leads are considered patronizing—an uninspired means of getting viewers’ attention.

Don’t reference people by name who have not been introduced.

For the listener, a reference to the name of someone they have never heard of can be confusing. Fiction writers should provide context before inserting a name into a script. In newswriting, an individual's name is never included in a lead unless they are a prominent figure.

Don't raise unanswered questions.

This general guideline is most applicable in newswriting where focus and clarity are essential. Bringing up a topic without explaining what its impact may be or why it is in the story is poor form. This is a common issue with rough drafts. These should be eliminated by writers as they revise their own work. Do not count on editors who are not familiar with a story to notice which topics are left open-ended in your copy.

In fiction writing, leaving major plot holes is only allowable if the writer is purposefully building suspense.

Finally, don't be shut off to critique.

This is another piece of general advice that some writers need to hear more often than others. No piece of writing is so precious that it need not be subjected to scrutiny. Editing makes writing stronger. Writers should fight for their audiences, not for a preferred manner of speaking.

If this seems like a bitter pill for you as a budding writer, please know that writers have always struggled with receiving criticism. Fiction writers sometimes refer to making necessary cuts in the editing process as “killing your darlings.” Writing is a mentally taxing creative effort. It makes sense to try to preserve what you have created, but for the good of the work and for the audience’s benefit, you must be willing to delete phrases, sentences, storylines and even entire pieces if they are not working.

On the other hand, writers who demonstrate poise in taking criticism are often taken more seriously when they refuse to make a cut or to give up on a project.