SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A STORY? (PART 2)
I. INTRO — FROM IDEA TO COMPLETION
Find your central point and develop….
II. BEFORE STARTING: REMEMBER HOOK, PITCH, AND STRUCTURE
CONSIDER YOUR STORY: REPORTING, ANALYSIS, REPORTAGE
Reporting: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/03/05/politics/sam-nunberg-robert-mueller/index.html
Analysis: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/03/06/politics/sam-nunberg-robert-mueller-investigation/index.html
Reportage:
http://www.telelib.com/authors/O/OrwellGeorge/prose/HomageToCatalonia/catalonia_ch_1.html
https://newrepublic.com/article/95915/hemingway-reports-spain
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/12/christopher-steele-the-man-behind-the-trump-dossier
III. WRITING THE LEDE
A. THE LEDE IS OFTEN THE SYNOPSIS OF YOUR STORY
Iran Daily: Rouhani Presses for Europe’s Separation from US on Nuclear Deal
B. THE LEDE IS OFTEN BUT NOT ALWAYS THE HOOK IN YOUR STORY — THE LEDE MAY BE THE OPENING TO THE HOOK, ESPECIALLY IN “ANALYSIS” STORY
https://theconversation.com/the-syria-ceasefire-deal-is-no-such-thing-its-cover-for-the-us-and-russia-54663
C. THE LEDE CAN DIFFER IN “REPORTAGE” STORY — THE “SCENARIO”
IV. GUIDE THE READER
A. SUPPORTING POINTS
1. FACTS
2. QUOTES
B. DEVELOPING POINTS
C. ANALYTIC POINTS
D. THE USE OF SUB-HEADINGS
E. THE CLOSE
1. THE FACTUAL CLOSE
2. THE ILLUMINATING CLOSE
3. THE “HUMAN INTEREST” CLOSE
V. WRITING STYLE
Clear: “Good Prose is Like a Windowpane”
Concise
Personal?
VI. GIVING THE STORY AUTHORITY — REFERENCES AND HYPERLINKS
VII. ANIMATING THE STORY
A. Photographs
B. The Headline
VIII. CONCLUSION: NO ONE ELSE CAN WRITE YOUR STORY