’s beat was society and lifestyle. In otherwords, they didn’t have a strict format in their reporting style as long as thenews followed the accepted 5W1H structure. The common structure for anynews article could be distilled down to this 5W1H. They are What, Why, Who,When, Where and How. They can form either a pyramid or inverted pyramid structureto lead the readers and viewers into the details of the news while keeping themhooked.
Se Cai was skilled at writingcodes but it was a completely different case when it came to writing script. Multipletimes his works were rejected by Director Bai because they were too amateurish.
“This is such an important news…I shan’t fail now!”
Se Cai took a deep breath as heopened Microsoft Word. Sadly, there wasn’t even a news outline in his mind.
Se Cai’s fingers hung helplesslyover the keyboard, he couldn’t even form the introduction.
He was struck by writer’s block.The more he panicked, the more his mind wandered! He couldn’t focus!
Se Cai stared nervously at thecomputer screen after he forced out the sentence, “A nerve-wrecking sceneunfolded atop County S’ commercial building this morning…” He was stumped.
“Se Cai, if you can’t performunder pressure, here, use my script.”
Xu Ran poked his head out tostare at Se Cai’s blank screen and drawled gleefully, “After all, you don’thave any journalism educational background. Instead of drawing a blank, mightas well use mine to save the news!”
Xu Ran came back earlier than SeCai so he had an ample time to finish his script. Furthermore, even though hemight not appear like it, he did grow up under the influence of his father andhad a degree in journalism.
“Thanks but no thanks, I’m sureI’ll figure something out.”
Se Cai rejected him outright.
It was common practice forreporters to share their resources but Xu Ran’s actions from before had trulyoffended Se Cai.
“What to do?! Do I really needto ask Xu Ran for his help?”
Se Cai fidgeted in his seat andturned up to look at the clock. It was 5 past 4, he was running out of time…
Suddenly, a male voice announceditself in his mind. It was the Eye for News system!
“Does the host wish to expend 3News Points to purchase a Script Writing Aid Unit?”
“Script Writing Aid Unit? Only 3News Points?”
Se Cai couldn’t recall seeingthis unit alongside other purchasable items and its price was undoubtedlysuspicious.
“To aid the host on his journey,the system is offering a special account on this specific unit!”
The voice replied as if readingSe Cai’s mind.
“Purchase confirm!”
Se Cai agreed vehemently. Thisunit based on its name would come in handy and it only cost 3 measly NewsPoints. Se Cai saw no harm in trying it out.
“Purchase successful. ActivatingScript Writing Aid… Searching database for relevant news articles. Found 7298results, results are arranged in decreasing relevance…”
After the announcement, a longseries of individual sentences appeared before Se Cai’s eyes.
These were all news headlines.All the datelines were unfamiliar to Se Cai.
He did a quick scan and realizedthese were all news articles on suicide. They were extremely similar to Se Cai’sown news.
And even a new reporter like SeCai could tell every one of them was incredibly well written.
The system even came with adictionary and thesaurus to explain the vocabulary that Se Cai didn’tunderstand.
“So this is the Script WritingAid?! It’s akin to library research, just multiplied several times in terms ofefficiency and speed. I’m sure this can help me complete a good script!”
Se Cai’s fingers danced over thekeyboard with frightening speed. With the system’s aid, the words camenaturally to him. It was as if writing was his second nature. In less than 5minutes, he sighed in relief, closing the laptop.
“Director Bai, I’m done with thescript, could you check it for me?”
“You’re done? So fast?!”
Director Bai was still waitingfor the conversion to complete. He was shocked because this completely didn’treflect Se Cai’s usual writing speed.
“It’s ready? Come pa.s.s it to me,I’ll mark it myself.”
Station Manager Wei said as hereturned to the room.