I took the right class

Sometime in early January, before I started this semester of school, I drafted the beginning to a post creatively titled The Humorous Essay:

I think that my favorite form of writing is the humorous essay.

I think that covers everything from Bill Simmons’ weekly column to the chapters in Chuc Klosterman books. There’s something I love about the two thousand word essay that makes you laugh and then think a little bit; it’s funny but poignant. This is entertainment at its best.

The other thing that makes it special is that it’s not easy. Funny is not something that happens if you just squint and concentrate really hard; that is frequently undiagnosed constipation.

At this point I believe I wandered off looking for a better joke, or possibly a laxative, and never really returned to the keyboard.

It occurred to me yesterday that I unintentionally signed up for exactly the right class this term. The three-hour behemoth titled “Principles of Journalism” could more accurately be called “Writing Narrative Non-Fiction,” or any host of other literary and pretentious ways of saying “how to write a funny magazine article.”

The class focuses on “explanatory journalism” and writing profiles. I don’t really know what either of those things are yet, despite the fact that I’ve written several of each already. I like that - I’d rather learn the craft by trying and by reading examples than by having it explained to me.

The reading list for this class is also surprisingly good. I’ll admit that I am not the type of student who does the assigned readings. Last semester I bought only one book, secure in the knowledge that I wouldn’t have opened any of the other even if I had bought them.

But these books I have avidly devoured. I have mentioned Letters to a young journalist before, which is a collection of exquisitely crafted and inspirational advice capable of convincing even the smartest person that a career in journalism is a good idea. I just finished this book, and I’m only supposed to be halfway through it.

Sin and Syntax is, as the name might suggest, is a refresher on middle-school grammar coupled with a large set of examples on how to use words well. Of the four books for this class, this is the one that improves my writing the most.

The other two books, The Art of Fact and The New New Journalism seem to be anthologies of good journalism and good journalism technique. The former is a collection of famous writings, and the latter is a collection of interviews with famous writers. After discovering that good journalism is fun to read and good journalists have good advice, I realized that these books also are going to be invaluable on my path to better writing.

In the end, I hope that my writing does improve this semester. I feel like it’s almost inevitable, given the sheer volume of ink I’m consuming, but you never know. Maybe someday I’ll even write something funny (but poignant), and then get it published.