There is a singular passion that drives most people who aspire for a career in journalism- love for the written word. This is the driving force for most budding journalists who want to make it big in this field that is tough and challenging. Journalism is one of those fields that doesn’t come with stipulated work hours. A journalist needs to be on his toes at all times, aware of his surroundings and capable of reacting appropriately in situations. A journalist’s weapon is his pen and Armour is his objectivity. It is precisely for this reason that journalists need to train themselves in the art of writing and more importantly in the art of observing. There are few things that a journalism student should keep in mind while building his portfolio:

1.Have an inquisitive mind

A journalist needs to be aware of his surrounding at all times. The need to understand things with an objective bend of mind can help to a large extent. Also this habit needs to be inculcated from early on and cannot be developed overnight. Being able to comment on issues proactively and having a fresh take on subjects is an added plus of being a journalist.

2.Read A LOT

While most of us have been educated in good schools and so have a good command over the language, internet and social networking seems to be doing a good job of killing it entirely. SMS language is common and most kids nowadays don’t know how ‘you’re’ is spelt! While it is easy to assume that nothing could have ruined our own language skills, many a times this is far from the truth. It is for this precise reason that reading becomes such an integral part of being a writer in general and a journalist in particular.

3.Try commenting on what you see

It is important that aspiring journalists train themselves to write on a consistent basis. This could start with small articles and graduate to longer more intense pieces. What is important is to build a repertoire of work that can be used as a judge to base your competence as well as  a training for later more professional writing.

4.Develop an interest towards writing on topics you might not like

While most who want to become journalists like to write, this is usually restricted to topics that they enjoy. However the true test of a journalist comes when you are capable of writing on topics you don’t really like. If you think that sports is your area of expertise, try writing on fashion and vice versa. The rationale behind this is that it is not necessary that you might always get to work on topics and pieces that you enjoy. In such a situation you should still be able to write well written articles.

5.Develop an interest towards writing on topics that you find tough

Another test to the true journalism aspirant is whether or not you are open to the idea of writing on topics that you find tough. It is very easy to work on topics that hold your attention, your prowess lies in being able to write an interesting piece on a subject that you find tough. For this, it is important that you constantly keep yourself abreast of all the happening s around the world and try and understand those that you don’t. Don’t like computers? Try subscribing to Chip magazine!

6.Get your work published

A feather in every journalist’s cap is the number of his articles being published. While this doesn’t mean that it needs to necessarily be on superior magazines and newspapers, it needs to be published. There are many websites that encourage budding writers. Try joining a few of them and write for them on a regular basis. Getting your work published as much as possible and build an archive of all your published articles. It works when you need to find work.

7.Variety

Something that can help a budding writer or journalist is to ensure that they have variety in their writing. While this doesn’t just mean being able to write on a variety of topics, it means being able to write with variety. Try writing poetry as well as articles, short copies as well as long ones, stories as well as news pieces. This variety will help in the long run as it gives you the experience of handling multiple ways of writing.

Finally, a writer can remain true to his work only if he continues with what he started off with in the first place- passion. Only if an individual continues to find excitement in his work and keeps the fire for good writing in his heart, will he be able to be a good journalism student and someday a class A journalist as well.

Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

Indeed work would be dull, to say the least, if we had to do it all by ourselves. Good teamwork releases group synergy so that the combined effect of individual contributions far exceeds the sum of their individual effects. The basic assumption here is that individual contributions cannot be as good as all of us working together in a team. But think about it, is it really just an assumption?

Okay, let’s look at it like this. Do you think Alexander would have been as great as he ended up being if he had decided to be a one man army? Or would the Indian cricket team be the ‘Desh Ki Dhadkan’ that they are if they decided to be individual players instead of a team? The fact is that they simply cease to be if they stand alone. The power that they have comes from their team backing each and every one of them!

So too many cooks do not really spoil the broth! Also, the fact that there is mutual accountability and togetherness amongst members of a well-knit team reduces the burden from the shoulders of individuals. And our individual experiences have proven time and again that not only is team work good fun, but it is also a great learning experience.

Most modern creative organisations build teams for performing tasks because it can be established that working in groups can provide a distinct competitive yet satisfying advantage. A strong team environment promotes and encourages cooperative interaction between individuals, greater motivation and develops a culture of high performance. It even instils a sense of being comrades rather than competitors, although a little bit of healthy competition really never hurt anyone!

Working individually provides its own advantages such as an increment of personal creative stature, absence of conflicts and quicker decision making, but can hinder effective achievement of goals due to lack of a collaborative environment and an avenue for proactive and creative approach towards problem solving. While working in a team you will never be alone, you will always have some or the other person to suggest you good things. Suggestions and advice can help you in generating new ideas and bring out the creativity in you.

The fact just stated that suggestions and advice can help you in generating new ideas and bring out the creativity in you, is of immense significance. This point is brought out most when you consider media professions like copywriting and creative advertising. Although the two have distinct functions, quite diverse from each other, yet any piece of creative advertising must exhibit a perfect union of copy and creatives. Without the sense of oneness between the two even the most visually creative ads. and the most meaningful copywriting will fail to have the desired impact. And this kind of unity comes only through team work. If the copywriter wants to do his work alone and the creative designer wants to work alone then their work will never show unity, for their minds will not be in sync.

The above example is one in which the team works at the same level. But there are instances when a natural leader will emerge in a team and lead the rest of them naturally. it becomes difficult for some of us to handle such situations when we have to face our individual limitations and take a back seat. For after all, no one wants to admit that someone else is better than us- right! But the beauty of team work is that every team member is equally important as the other. For what good would a leader be if there was no one to follow him! And what good would an individual worker be if he did not have ideas to work on! A team provides a place for both of them. And no matter what you are inside a team, to the outside world you are both part of the same team. This makes you both equally worthy of whatever work you do as a team.

Personal rivalries and egos, therefore, have no place in a team. Essentially, a team is a mini organisation where no matter how much you give, you will never find yourself empty handed. Your repository of leanings will grow in leaps and bounds when you are working in a team. This is what makes working in teams the great learning experience that it is.