Bridging the gaps between scholarly essays and mass-market film writing

This chapter draws on the author’s years of experience as both a university-based professor of cinema studies and a film critic and journalist for popular publications. On these bases, the chapter argues that skills developed in each of these arenas - often presented as irreconcilable in goals, expression, and audience - can enrich one’s work in the other and create professional opportunities in both. The author gives examples of how scholarly questions, frames of reference, and modes of analysis can elevate popular writing and distinguish a critic’s voice. At the same time, the concision, clarity, and attention to craftsmanship that magazine editors and fan communities value can help to distill and anchor the arguments in academic writing. The chapter includes a handful of sample assignments that can cultivate these abilities in students and help them acquire useful professional skills.