How to Write About Current Events
By: Adrienne Grimes
Tags: Current, Writing, Pop Culture, Education, News

How many times have you heard about Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s marriage problems in the last week?

How many times have you seen the same headline over and over and over? With a body of text that just looks like it was copy and pasted widely?

Writing about current events is an art. It’s something you have to do just right or you end up sounding like a million different people who are talking about the same subject.

The key is finding your own take on the subject.

Read Between the Lines

What’s not being said?

Back to the current hot example of the Kardashian-West fiasco: what haven’t you seen covered but its connection is glaringly obvious to you? For instance, I find that every article I’ve read that’s talking about Kanye West’s current bipolar episode is lacking a critical look at how his string of unfiltered tweets is a little too reminiscent of our current president’s twitter habit.

The best way to be able to read between the lines is to stay updated on current events. For instance, just a few weeks ago Kanye West announced his presidential candidacy. How can you connect that to the current story that’s being spread like wildfire?

I would question how the presidential candidacy is only brought up as the backdrop for what’s happening when it really should be posed as a larger consideration within the story.

By staying up to date on current events you’ll soon find yourself connecting stories and that’s where you’ll truly be able to see what isn’t being said.

Ask yourself these questions: What has the media seem to have forgotten about? Where can you see carefully crafted language? What did you have to look up after you read the piece? All of these are great deep reading questions.

Develop Your Angle

You’ve read between the lines, now you need to develop your angle.

In my current example, I’ve found that it’s weird that the media is blazing past Kanye West’s attempt to run for President. To me, a connection between his current predicament and his last brush with the press is so obvious. Much too obvious and interesting to just be used as a backdrop for the current situation.

If I were to write a piece about this scandal it would focus on how West’s decision to run for president was the starting point of his downward spiral. I would also point out that this action should be 100% more concerning to the public than a possible divorce.

To develop your angle, think about connections. Where does this piece fit amongst everything else that’s going on?

Why does it interest you?

This is a personal favorite of mine. It’s definitely something that’s not necessarily needed, but will only add to your piece and help set it apart.

Think about your own life and your own qualifications. Write about analyzing the story from your own unique perspective based on your background, morals, etc.

I would love to see how someone in the mental illness profession would write about Kanye West’s situation.

If I were to write about this story from my own unique angle, I would use my academic background in critical theory and personal interest in current events and pop culture history to write a piece about why Kanye West’s mental health is a danger to the public and why we should be paying attention to it.

How should your reader read this piece?

At the end of writing your current events piece always ask your self how the reader should read it.

Direction is key in setting your story apart from all the others. The others are just sharing the information as it comes in, but you are presenting it with clear questions to be asked.

To finish off my example, I would end my Kanye West piece by addressing a question that asks the reader to make the same connections between past and current events as I did. I would also be clear in stating that I think the media is focusing on the wrong angle in this story to really drive the point home.

Current events are too important to just be a copy and pasted post.

It requires and encourages critical thinking, and while the media continues to drive full speed past important details, it needs you to slow down and smell the controversy.