The story’s focus is not in your notes or your tape recorder. It's between your ears, according to Steve Elliott, Cronkite News Service Director.
“Sum up the story in six words,” Elliott told a group of 33 journalism educators from all parts of the
The teachers are fellows of the ASNE Reynolds High School Journalism Institute at
Elliott tells his own students that striving for perfection from the start doesn’t work. He recommends that students write a framework without using their notes.
“Write the structure from the lead,” Elliott said. “Use the notes later to fill out the story.”
He added that many times he writes a story with “insert fantastic quote here” in place of actual quotes.
“Bypass areas of resistance and go back and fix them later,” he said.
Elliott also emphasized the importance of concise, clear sentences and paragraphs.
“Write as if each word costs you $20,” Elliott said. “And after 25 words, $100 per word.”
In addition to using short words and sentences, active voice and strong verbs, it’s the journalist’s responsibility to decipher bureaucratic language, statistics and vagueness, according to Elliott.
I was quite encouraged by the advice and tips that Elliott gave us as I have seen my own reporters use these techniques many times, especially the “insert fantastic quote here” strategy.
I spend a lot of energy pressuring my students to get words on paper early in the news cycle. I think that pressure is what leads them to give me frameworks with missing leads or quotes. From now on, I will actually teach this technique as a strategy for “bypassing areas of resistance.”
Becky Bennett
Bastrop High School
Bastrop, Texas
Nice article Becky. You have a good voice in this and your summation of the presentation was clear and concise. I agree that it seems like we have been here longer than tow days. This morning I was thinking about how many class periods I can fill with all of the activities we have done so far, and that was after only one day! Just imagine two weeks like this, I'll have a semester of lesson plans! All challenging and interesting. I liked your idea for stressing the bypassing areas of resistance. This will transform a natural part of the writing process (getting a block) into something like revision, versus a reason to stop getting your ideas out.
ReplyDeleteI plan on having my students tweet to practice writing concise, clear sentences.
Thank you for sending me the link to the posts. Do I follow it again and again, or will you send me another link? Precise communication. The information I read from your article will actually help me construct the narratives for the grant. I am building them as you say, with bulleted structures, then fleshing out and adding key phrases or terms.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are enjoying yourself and learning, too!
Becky,
ReplyDeleteNice summary article Becky. However, who is that weird fellow in your photo? ;)
Don