David Tuller wrote this piece in the opinion pages of the New York Times as a former student of Public Health at U.C. Berkley. There, he wrote for a general interest magazine. He is now the academic coordinator for UC Berkley’s joint masters program in public health and journalism.
Tuller wrote this article and told a story of his time at Berkley writing for the magazine. He described an article that he thought to be a great piece. His editor thought otherwise. When Tuller reviewed the piece, he saw what his editor was talking about. The piece was “stuffed so full of cumbersome language, weighty arguments and important data” that the good stuff fell off the page. Now, Tuller teaches Journalism students how to write and provides them with 2 rules that he outlines in this piece:
- He bans formal references. This works because it makes the writers prove their claims should someone challenge them.
- Bans the use of acronyms for a couple of reasons. First, because they can get out of control and second, because some acronyms have multiple meanings.
He also repeats basic rules before each assignment.
- Tell the most important things first
- Keep it simple
- Use the active voice
- Be Specific
- Take things piece by piece