• Use strong verbs
  • use verbs in their strongest form, the simple present or past
  • stay in the active present or the active past, not the progressive or the passive
    • He runs
    • John caught the ball
  • avoid verb qualifiers
    • sort of
    • tend to
    • kind of
    • must have
    • seemed to
    • could have
• Beware of adverbs
  • They can dilute the meaning of the verb or repeat it
• Never use passive voice
  • The action is next to the person performing it, not the subject

 

• Review Writing
  • Restaurant Review Writing
    • Best to write about new restaurants
    • Compare and contrast is key
    • Reviews should either encourage or discourage readers from visiting a new restaurant
    •  most professional reviewers will visit a restaurant at least twice before giving a review
    • Reviewers do this anonymously because they do not want to be treated differently
    • Include prices for the main menu
    • Discuss the atmosphere and service
    • In your conclusion, you should include the address, hours of operation, and whether a reservation is necessary
• TV Show Review Writing
  • Best to write about new shows
  • Compare and contrast
  • Reviews should either encourage or discourage readers from tuning in
  • Most professional reviewers will watch the first episode and review based on that. Sometimes they may watch the first few
  • Be sure to discuss the main actors and director by name and what other work they have done prior to this show (RESEARCH)
  • Conclusion should include time, channel, and day the show airs
• Movie/Play Review Writing
  • Same as tv show review writing
• Music Review
  • Best to write about new album releases/artists
  • Compare and contrast
  • Encourage or discourage
  • comment on the tone/vibe of the music
  • Discuss specific songs
  • Discuss any songs that are currently playing on the radio
  • Discuss any songs that got looked over and talk about them as well
• Product Review
  • Includes makeup, beauty products, snacks, hair stylers, headphones, shoes, technology (phones, etc.), cars, cameras, literally anything your audience typically uses or would be interested in trying
  • best to write about new products
  • compare and contrast is key. compare to things they are familiar with
  • reviews should either encourage or discourage
  • be specific about what you like about the product-smell, look of packaging, color, price, availability, affect, etc.
  • What you do not like
  • Price of product, link, specific name, where they can buy it for the cheapest price

• Editorials
  • written by one member of the editorial board
  • discussion occurs before writing to ensure all opinions are shared
  • after writing, the editorial is critiqued and agreed on by all members of the editorial board
  • represents the views of the publication staff on a timely or impactful topic
• Editorial Structure
  • 500-600 words
  • part 1: begins with an attention-grabbing lede (outrageous fact, question, scenario-hypothetical or real, depending on the subject)
  • part 2: dives into the problem and the real-world impact it has. gives facts and presents research on the issue.
  • part 3: concedes a point to the counter argument/ acknowledges why the problem exists
  • part 4: refutes the counter argument
  • part 5: the call to action. what should people do? who needs to change? what can I, as the reader, do to help?
• Editorial Research
  • Google – careful with where you go (.gov, .come, .edu, .net)
    • avoid blogs
    • be mindful that .gov sites are obviously run by the government and may be bias
    • always be wary of sites. if they look old or haven’t been updated the’yre probably not very reliable
  • You can quote other publications, but try to find the information on your own or follow their links to the first source rather than quoting a secondary source
• Possible Topics
  • What are some issues facing American citizens/ Ladue communities?
    • homework shouldn’t be a thing
    • guns
    • discrimination
    • obesity
    • free/reduced lunch
    • lack of sleep
    • bullying
    • climate change
    • government
    • diversity
    • eating disorders
    • finals

 

• Opinated style of writing — a piece reflects ideas of a writer
• Different kinds: lifestyle, advice, sports, humor, politics, religion, niche, etc.
• Typically, columnists have a standing column and write material as often as the paper is published or on specific days of the week
• Columnists should be experts in their topics so they stay informed and know what they are talking about
• Humor Columnist
  • Dave Barry
  • Poke fun at day to day life, things accepted by society, funny scenarios that happened to them, etc.
  • Usually relates to a shared human experience
  • May comment on topics in the news or topics relevant to the community they are writing for
• Lifestyle Columnist
  • Share parts of their lives with the reader who may not have experienced such a thing in their own life (living homeless, divorce, etc.)
  • The goal is to inspire or educate the reader (and sometimes just entertain)
  • Should relate to the reader or point to some universal idea humans can all understand
• Political Columnist
  • Have the difficult job of making sense of politics and commenting in a logical way without driving away too many readers who may hold differing opinions
• Sports Columnist
  • Writes about why games went the way they went, how the team will perform now that so-and-so is gone, which rookie is the one to snag up, etc.
  • Sports and scandals
  • Sports fanatic
• Advice Columnist
  • Gives advice and sometimes answers questions from the readers
  • Dear ______,
  • Expert in topics they give advice about
• Religion Columnist
  • Take a stab at tackling a very heated and debated topic
  • Some use humor, try to spread beliefs, make sense of traditions, etc.
• Metro Columnist
  • Writes about what is going on within the local community
• Niche Columnist
  • Customized columns for a specific audience
  • Gardening columns, teacher, motorcycle, tv shows, etc.
  • Personal experiences, recommendations, tricks, tips, and horror stories

Asking Questions

• What is your best piece of advice?
• Get more personal responses by asking deeper questions.
• What’s your biggest regret?
• What was the happiest moment of your life?
• What was the hardest thing that you’ve ever had to do?

• Reason for ethical decision-making
  • Don’t get sued or censored
• S = Situation
  • Explain the situation in complete detail
  • Who is involved?
  • What happened?
  • What are the possible solutions?
• A = Analysis
  • Analyze the potential consequences
  • Who will be hurt if you choose Option A over option B?
  • What are the consequences of each option?
  • How will one option affect the larger community?
  • What option will everyone involved prefer?
• D = Decision
  • Using the information you have discussed, determine the best possible solution
  • Your decision should be a sentence or two at most
  • Then, explain why you’ve made that decision over your other options

Associated Press STYLE

• AP Style- Basic guide for news writing
  • Works to keep journalists consistent and their writing concise
  • Guides journalists in the following areas:
    • Spelling
    • Abbreviations
    • Grammar
    • Titles
    • Numbers
• Basic Rules
  • Names
    • The first time you mention someone, use their full name and title
      • Principal Brad Griffith
    • Every other time, only use their last name
  • Punctuation Rules
    • No oxford comma (no comma before the “and“)
    • Commas and periods always go inside quotation marks
    • NEVER use italics. Always use quotation marks.
  • State Abbreviations
    • Only abbreviate states when they come after a city name.
    • If there is no city, write the state’s name out.
    • States with five or fewer letters are never abbreviated.
  • Titles
    • Capitalize formal titles only when they come directly before someone’s name
    • Do not use courtesy titles (Mr., Mrs., Ms.), unless a source expresses they want to be called as such
  • Numerals
    • Spell out zero through nine in writing, unless you are telling someone’s age
    • Ages always use the number
    • If you begin a sentence with a number, spell it out.
    • Do NOT ever spell at years (2010)
    • Spell out fractions; two-thirds
    • For percent, use the number and spell it percent: 49 percent
  • Time
    • Use noon for 12 pm and midnight for 12 am
    • Do not use the zeros
      • 10 am; not 10:00 am
      • Use a colon to seperate hours and minutes
    • Avoid redudancies such as 9 am in the morning
  • Dates
    • For days of the week, use Monday, Tueday… not today or tomorrow and SPELL OUT the day
    • For months with a specific day, abbreviate the month
      • Tuesday, Sept. 4
    • Without a specific day, then spell out the month

• Why evaluate web sources?
  • advantage: get info from anybody about virtually anything
  • disadvantage: opinions
• Evaluating an Online Source
  • Authority
    • Reliable? Reputable? Easily contacted? Who is the author?
  • Accuracy
    • Did they find info or do they cite sources? Can we verify this info with another source?
    • Grammatical/Factual Errors?
  • Objectivity
    • Sponsored? Biased? Can you trust them to distinguish between facts and opinions?
  • Timeliness
    • Has it been updated? Dates?

• Topic: The overall idea of your story
  • Story Angle: The specific focus of your story
• How to Write A News Story
  • Step 1: Go through your notes
    • Identify important things
  • Step 2: Create your lede
  • Step 3: Choose a logical follow up quote
  • Step 4: Write a Transition Sentence
    • Go through notes and use any other details you might have highlighted to make a transition sentence to the next quote
  • Step 5: Choose a logical follow up quote
    • Nut graph; more info

• Lede– The opening sentence or short paragraph of a news article, summarizing the most important aspects of the story (Who, What, Where, Why, How; 30 words, 1 sentence)
  • Past Tense
  • Minimum adjectives/ description
  • Ideally, around 30 words or less
  • 1 sentence
• Sample Lede
  • August 30th, a man fell asleep smoking in bed in his home, where the cigarette ignited his mattress, leaving three people hospitalized from smoke inhalation after the house caught on fire.

 

• What I learned from the article “Learn How to Write News Stories”
  • News stories are written in inverted pyramid format.
  • Keep writing tight, keep writing short and quick.
  • Use the S-V-O format (Subject Verb Object)