It’s that time of year again – it’s nearing the end of first semester – the time of year when every teacher I know complains that “kids just can’t write!!!” and I am challenged to come up with at least one meaningful solution. When what to my wondrous eyes should appear but Michael Masterson’s column on just that thing!
So with definitive attribution to him (Early to Rise e-mag) I offer this:
It occurs to me that we should establish some sort of belt-ranking system for writers, something like the one we have in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
White Belt: You are a beginner. You are writing, but little or none of what you are writing hits the mark. It’s wordy and filled with opinion and what Miss Marcia calls “filler.”
Blue Belt: You understand the basics. But you cannot seem to avoid words and phrases such as: “this year,” “the fighting ____fill in the blank”, “everyone had a wonderful time.” You are getting thicker skin when it comes to having your pieces edited.
Purple Belt: Your copy is getting stronger and more sophisticated. You are now able to actually interview people asking questions that get answers that have meaning. You listen (and write down) other people’s words and follow up with additional questions. Now you can write with transitional phrases and you can identify the “hook” or the human-interest angle in the story.
Brown Belt: You can write a full array of formats (from seven-word teasers to 250-word features) in your section. You have written at least one blockbuster piece and have three more in the works.
Black Belt: You have done it all. Moreover, you know you can repeat it at will. You generate, or can generate if you wanted to work great story ideas with alternative copy pieces that fit and expand the coverage. You understand the principles of copywriting and are interested in teaching them to the less-experienced writers on the staff.
That would be pretty cool. We could establish a yearbook-wide association headed by a small group of Red Belts -- writers and designers and photographers who meet to discuss coverage angles and options. .
These Red Belts could hand out other belts to their protégés. Once a writer rose to the level of black belt, he himself could hand out lower belts to those just joining the staff.
To attain a belt ranking, you'd have to prove that you know certain things (knowledge) and can do certain things (skill) -- just as you do with BJJ.
To go from White Belt to Blue Belt, it might take 1,000 hours of practice -- and another 1,000 hours to go from Blue Belt to Purple. Then 1,000 hours to Brown Belt and 1,000 to Black Belt. Five thousand hours in all. And 5,000 hours, as longtime ETR readers know, is the time we say it takes to master any worthwhile skill.
The more I think this through, the more meaningful it is. Students – even those who come with glowing recommendations from their English teachers – do not REALLY get it until they write and edit, then write and rewrite some more. Until they “get it” that the FIRST DRAFT is just that … the first of three or four or five rewrites...that writing involves thinking and asking and talking and listening – it involves knowing what the companion coverage will be – what pictures are being shot – who the players in the topic are.
GOOD WRITING is so much more a people-skill then ever before. GOOD might be defined as contemporary and now! You earn that Black Belt by having created the piece that others actually stop to read.
