Indiana University

Indiana University School of Journalism

SATW: Writing coach advises simplicity

Three journalism students are reporting for the school Web site during the Society of American Travel Writers conference in Houston Oct. 17-22. Senior Tracie Ortman and juniors Jackie Kochell and Natalie Avon will describe their internship experiences during the conference.

Writing coach advises simplicity

By Natalie Avon
Oct. 22, 2008

Avon, Kochell
Courtesy photo
Natalie Avon, left, and Jackie Kochell are attending the SATW conference in Houston this week.
Consultant, teacher, columnist, author and writing coach Paula LaRocque brought her expertise to a workshop for attendees at the Society of American Travel Writers conference. Known for her work coaching journalists on grammar, style and writing techniques, LaRocque tailored this talk, “The Secrets of Good Travel Writing,” for the SATW audience.

LaRocque outlined 12 guidelines for great writing, ranging from keeping sentences short to using the right word. She emphasized the importance of straightforward sentences. There is a beauty in simplicity, she said.

“If you wouldn’t say it, then why write it?” she asked an audience of about 50. “Speech is the template of writing. It has to be prior to both sequence and importance.”

LaRocque said sentences of 19 words and fewer have a 90 percent understandability rate, while sentences 33 words and over leave more than 70 percent of readers perplexed.

Besides length, sentences are more readable when clichés, jargon and journalese are left out, she said.

To demonstrate, LaRocque asked two audience members to read scripts – each with a noticeable amount of journalese.

SATW attendees laughed along with the readers, recognizing many of these phrases as problems they have in their own writing.

Above all, LaRocque emphasized engaging and clear copy. She said it was easier to connect with the reader by using a conversational tone.

“Write as you speak … when you speak well,” LaRocque said.