The first lesson comes from an article by my friend Kate Linthicum. Kate sent me this article as an example of one of the favorite things she's written so far.
It could have been the typical intern story - it's an event piece about something that happens every year. But Kate focuses it around one person. The person isn't particularly unique, but the details bring him to life. Additionally, Kate builds the story around the moments before and after the kid competes in his event. This forward motion keeps the reader reading.
I often get stories like this, but I don't think I've ever nailed a piece, even though I spend a lot of time worrying about making them original. The other day I wrote a story about iPhones. If I had written the story with this relatively simple narrative structure (start the story a few minutes before the store opens, end it with how a particular buyer feels about the phone), it would have been much more interesting. Instead, I peppered it with quotes and wrote a story that could have been written anywhere.
I'm going to try to write a story in this style over the next few days. We'll see how it goes.
1 comment:
PB--
I don't know much about journalism, but I clicked over to your iStory and really enjoyed it.
You have such a great ear for quotes. The story opened up for me, if that makes any sense. If anything, I wanted to hear more about commission rates, Dr. Plehn-Dujovich's opinions, Ted Wells and Mike Dentico.
It was a denser experience than Kate's story, but one that was rather fun to read.
Anyhow, what do I know?
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