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Whether you are writing an article for your local newspaper or creating a newsletter for your FFA chapter, you will need to ask yourself, “What makes a good story?” and “What is the best way to tell it?” This workshop will cover the steps for writing a good article from brainstorming and researching your topic, to interviewing sources, to writing and revising your first draft, to publishing a finished article. By the end of this workshop, you will have a better understanding of the news and how you can make it.This presentation was for the Virginia FFA Convention on June 29, 2011.
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June 28, 2011
Telling Your Story and Making the News
Michael Sutphin, Writer, @michaelsutphinLori Greiner, Communications Manager, @lgreiner
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Overview
1. How can I make the news?
2. What makes a good story?
3. How can I tell it?
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What is the news?• Timely, immediate – not history• Affects many people in some way• Innovative or interesting• What journalists decide as news
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Sources of news• Word of mouth• Print• Broadcast• Web• Social media
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Making the news• News releases• Pitches• Reporter queries• Newsletters and magazines• Multimedia• Social media and blogs
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What is newsworthy?
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What is newsworthy?• Timeliness• Proximity• Impact• Prominence• Novelty• Conflict• Human interest
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Why write?• Keep a record• Organize thoughts• Express creativity• Share ideas• Persuade others
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The writing process1. Brainstorming
2. Prewriting
3. Drafting
4. Revising
5. Editing
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Step 1: Brainstorming• List topics that come to mind.• Draw a map with your main topic in the
middle and other topics radiating from it.• Create an outline.• Work as a group or share ideas with
others.
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Step 2: Prewritingprewriting
—noun
Preparatory work for a piece of writing, as idea formulation, an outline, or research.
(Random House Dictionary, 2009)
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Who is your audience?
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Background research• Archived news• Documents• Websites• Friends and contacts• Google
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Interviewing• Be polite.• Explain the purpose
of the interview.• Make it a
conversation.• Ask follow-up
questions.• Take good notes.
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Step 3: Drafting
Photo courtesy of Kriss Szkurlatowski
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The six questions• Who?• What?• Where?• When?• Why?• How?
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Activity: The inverted pyramid
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Writing a good lead• Informative• Concise• Creative• Attention-grabbing
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Ways to open a story• Summary• Picture• Background• Contrast• Quotation
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Bad leads• Buried• Wordy• Dense• Uninformative• Dull
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Direct vs. indirect quotes“This year’s FFA Convention will give hundreds of Virginia students a chance to share their passion for agriculture,” said Wes Kline, president of Virginia FFA.
Wes Kline, president of Virginia FFA, explained that the 2011 convention will help more than 2,000 Virginia youth better understand agriculture in the commonwealth.
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Article lengthType Word count
Announcement 100-150
Newsletter article 200-350
Feature story 500-800
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Headlines
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Step 4: Revising“The difference between the right and the nearly right word is the same as that between lightning and the lightning bug.”
—Mark Twain
“Half my life is an act of revision.”
—John Irving
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Step 5: Editing
Photo courtesy of Jan Verbist
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StyleQuestion: What is the single most important element of writing style?
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StyleAnswer: Consistency
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Common mistakes• Passive voice• Too many
prepositional phrases
• Mixed tenses• Dangling modifier
• Redundancy• Non-agreement• Careless repetition• Mixed construction
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Keys to success• Write about what you know.• Tell your story.• Do your research.• Ask questions.• Stay focused.• Think outside the box.
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QUESTIONS?
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