Good writing grows from the bad
By Alfred Lee
June 11, 2006 9:00 p.m.
It may be one of the biggest and best college newspapers in the
country, but there’s a lot of bad writing in the Daily
Bruin.
I can’t remember the last time I picked up the paper and
didn’t wince at a cliche or inaccuracy within a few seconds
““ and this is after the articles in question had gone through
four rounds of editing. Being the Film & TV editor this year
meant I got to get my hands on some of these masterworks first.
I don’t want to single anyone out, so I’ll start
with myself. In 2003, I wrote a preview of the band The 88, which
began, “One of the hottest bands in Los Angeles owes a lot to
some of the oldest.”
Seriously, that was my opening sentence. It commits just about
every writing sin imaginable; I wanted to fire myself after reading
it. And the article gets worse from there. (My lead quote:
“We think that playing at colleges is a great thing to
do.” My interview skills were razor-sharp.)
But my point is not to bag on The Bruin or exorcise my own
demons. I’m proud to have been a part of the Daily
Bruin’s bad writing tradition. Most of it is perpetrated by
younger or less experienced writers learning on the job. As a wee
intern, the newspaper was a means for me to learn through mistakes
and to begin to understand the value of seeing something for what
it is and writing it with clarity.
These are the kinds of things I came to college to learn, and
all the garbage I wrote along the way (and continue to write)
reflected my growing pains not only as a writer, but as a person. I
think just about every writer who’s passed through the bowels
of 118 Kerckhoff Hall like a day-old sandwich can identify with
what I’m saying.
Writing badly was an invaluable part of my college experience
and not just because trial by fire led to my eventual improvement.
By taking me on in fall quarter of my freshman year, The Bruin
offered the clueless hack in me a chance to discover more about
this school and city than I ever would have otherwise, to meet a
few kindred spirits and hopefully longtime friends, to interview
artists such as Chuck D. ““ still the most important musician
of the last 20 years ““ and, of course, to “make it
true” (sorry; inside joke about alcohol consumption).
Finally, I’m happy to report that, as of my impending
graduation, the Daily Bruin continues to be a hotbed of bad writers
trying to make the transition to becoming better ones. It
shouldn’t be any other way.
Most of Lee’s heroes don’t appear on no stamps.
E-mail him at
