Help with writing Jeremy Clarkson articles

Jeremy Clarkson is a controversial figure, mainly because of his outspokenness. An example of this is his sacking from the BBC’s Top Gear programme because of these comments, and other reasons.

He next became a co-presenter, with Richard Hammond and James May on Amazon video’s programme, The Grand Tour in 2016. This was produced by Andy Wilman. The show was first broadcast in late 2017.

Jeremy Clarkson’s abiding passion is cars. He has test driven many, including top of the range luxury cars and the lowlier variety. He owns, or has owned, various Mercedes, a Lamborghini convertible, the classic race car, the Ford Escort RS Cosworth and the Ferrari F355, although he was to regret choosing the GTS version. For many years his family car was a Volvo XC 90, no doubt chosen for its safety, practicality and efficiency. Other sportier cars he has owned include a Lotus Elise, and an Aston Martin Virage.

Jeremy Clarkson spent a little time on the Greek islands of Crete and Corfu where he was famously rude about the Greeks, and ridiculed the Greek army elite, the guards who parade in front of the parliament building in Athens’ Syntagma Square in traditional costume. Clarkson made comments about the silly-looking pompoms on their shoes as well as the what he believed to be the awful Greek food. These comments and others like them did nothing to endear him to the Greeks, who can be rather touchy when it comes to their traditions. This paragraph serves to illustrate the controversy that Clarkson generates.

Clarkson generally gets away with his outrageous comments, especially when they are written, because he is humorous, and his comments are often delivered tongue-in-cheek.

Clearly his viewers love him, but there are those who just can’t watch his programmes.

Follow the guidelines above for your introduction to the biographical article you write. Remember that you are basically telling the story of Jeremy Clarkson’s life.

• As you do your research into Clarkson and his life, make notes and keep a list of the sources you have used. For example, if you find a good quote from The Guardian newspaper, make a note of the date it was published so that you can find it again if you need to.
• Keep a file, either digital or paper, so that all your files are easily accessible and in one place. Don’t just write on many pieces of paper that are not in any particular order.
• Research is crucial to a biographical article, so do it thoroughly.
• Make your story interesting by using adjectives and adverbs to keep your readers interested in the story. Not everyone who reads it will be a fan of Clarkson.
• Think of the biography as a narrative, or story.
• The reader will want to learn something new, so make sure you mention the places Clarkson has travelled to as well as the experiences he had while in them.
• Make sure you tell Clarkson’s life history in chronological order. If you don’t the reader might become confused, and you, the writer, might omit some important details.
• Find some amusing anecdotes about Clarkson which you can use in your article.
• Watch some of Clarkson’s motoring programmes to get a better idea of what he does and how he entertains his audience. Take notes while watching as you may well find helpful quotes to illustrate your main points.
• Make a plan outlining what you want to include in the article and follow it.
• Don’t try to include everything you know about Clarkson. Be selective and keep the readers’ interest.
• Stick to the word limit given.
• When you think you have finished the first draft of the article, check it again and again, looking for typos, poor grammatical structures, repetition and other possible errors. You probably realise the generic mistakes you make in your writing.