Writing for Media (201-A-12)
Instructors
David L Nelson
David Nelson is a journalist, an academic and a consultant to the media industry. At Northwestern, Prof. Nelson served as associate dean of the Medill School of Journalism and chair of the Editorial Department. He taught classes in news writing and reporting, media management and marketing both at Medill and the Kellogg School of Management. An inaugural member of the New York Times College Advisory Board, Nelson also chaired the Inland Press Association’s marketing communications committee. He is a former senior editor of The Miami Herald, former editor at the Pioneer Press, and former writer for Time and Money magazines. Northwestern University named him “Professor of the Year” in 2007. Prior to that, undergraduate students elected him to their first ever NU Faculty Honor Roll and he repeatedly made the list until retiring from Medill in 2012 as professor emeritus. In 2023, Prof. Nelson was inducted into the Medill Hall of Achievement.
Meeting Info
Wieboldt Hall 504: Mon 6:15PM - 9:15PM
Overview of class
This course helps students improve their basic writing skills. It emphasizes clarity and conciseness in expressing thoughts and facts. Through readings, discussion, writing exercises and rewrites, along with remote-site interactive instruction, students gain confidence and demonstrate improvement in written expression each week. By the end of the term, students can write clear, logical and accurate stories within the assigned deadline. We will practice writing:
• on assigned topics
• on space requirements
• on deadlines.
While this is not a writing course exclusively for those who wish to pursue journalism, it nonetheless places heavy emphasis on news. This is not a class in creative writing. (Never make anything up in your stories.) Specifically, this course intends to:
• clear up problems with grammar
• sharpen word selection and usage
• clean up sentence structure
• introduce the basic discipline of journalism
• increase writing speed
• make stories both accurate and appealing to the intended audience.
The writing drills can help students determine whether to pursue additional journalism courses at Northwestern University or elsewhere - and ultimately whether one has the potential to become a published nonfiction writer. Equally important, these skills provide solid techniques to apply toward future course work at NU in most other disciplines and at work. Several assignments will concentrate on these three primary writing techniques: narration, description, and exposition.
Registration Requirements
Prerequisites: none.
Teaching Method
Lectures
Discussion
writing exercises
Online work
Evaluation Method
Class participation
Homework
Lab writing exercises
Onlline work
Readings
Class Materials (Required)
Kessler & McDonald, When Words Collide, 2ndh Edition
- chapters provided by Prof. Nelson
Strunk & White, The Elements of Style, 4th edition - to be purchased
Recommended: The New York Times or The Washington Post
Class Notes
We work together. Leave ego at the door. Have fun.