Life as a Journalist

"Twenty minutes into a conversation on what it’s like to run Canada’s busiest airport during a global pandemic, Deborah Flint pauses to ask: “Can you hear that?” (Willis, The Globe and Mail).

Andrew Willis, a former Greenwood parent and a business columnist for The Globe and Mail, shared his insight on what life is like as a professional business writer with our Grade 12 Economics and Grade 12 Writer’s Craft students on April 8. He described the journey he took to get to where he is today, gave tips on how to become a good writer and discussed some of the work he has written in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Andrew completed his BA at the University of Western Ontario and received his Bachelor of Journalism at the University of King’s College in Halifax. His intensive one-year program at King’s proved to be very practical. Not only did he learn about journalism, but he had the opportunity to experience first-hand what life would be like working for digital and print media.

After finishing school and gaining work experience, his passion for telling business stories led him to his current job: business columnist for The Globe and Mail. 

Andrew gave great insight into a day in the life of a journalist and shared many valuable tips on becoming a good writer.

“Effective communication is key. If you can communicate effectively, you are going to be of value in any job,” said Andrew. He shared that everyone in the newsroom gets good at writing by doing it continually, reading their own work and showing it to editors. From writing about horse races one week to writing about airplanes the next, his topics always vary. 

Andrew writes at least 1000-2000 words every day. He explained that there are days where it can be hard to get a good narrative flow going. “When you are writing for a living, you are not allowed to get writer's block. No matter what, you have to write a story,” Andrew said. One of his tricks to beating writer’s block is developing an opening paragraph that summarizes everything you are trying to accomplish in your story. This is a great way to organize your thoughts and get a narrative going.

Recently, Andrew wrote an article about Deborah Flint, President at Greater Toronto Airports Authority, and what it is like to run an airport during the COVID-19 pandemic. He told this story through Deborah’s eyes and opened it with a strong visual hook. He uses sensory words that make the reader imagine they are walking through the airport during a time of crisis. Read his article in The Globe and Mail here.

“A majority of the work comes from editing your own work,” Andrew explained. “One of my biggest challenges is having to sacrifice a wonderful quote or a great story because it simply doesn’t fit anymore, no matter how much I like it.” Writers have to be good at taking in a lot of information from a lot of different places. Andrew believes that the best way to edit is to read your work out loud. It helps clear out typos and bring out the tone of your story.

He painted a wonderful picture of what life is like as a professional writer and gave incredible insight into the world of business. Thank you, Andrew, for sharing your knowledge and words of advice with our students!