Jim Trotter, West Region Enterprise Editor with The Associated Press, shared many great points in an effort to help writers embrace storytelling, "old-school style." He encourages writers to tap back into the oral tradition of storytelling with an "attempt to take the reader along for the ride." It is important for the reader to feel like they are personally connected to the experience and this can be done through good narrative writing, explained Trotter.
Besides reporting with the basic instincts of good journalism, "report with all your senses," Trotter insists. He explains that too many stories are told using only one or two senses. Writers miss some great opportunities by limiting additional sensory perspectives.
"Make the character human by having them clean their glasses," said Trotter. People like to read about every day people they can relate to. The addition of a simple human pattern to the story makes the character seem a little more genuine and this gives the story a realistic edge, emphasizes Trotter, who advocates using a narrative thread to connect your story to the reader in a personal way.
"Use emotion to engage the reader," was another valuable tip shared by the AP Editor. The ability to use common feelings to connect people universally is an effective tool when writing a story. So powerful, that this method has the ability to connect people over time and space; just ask the participants of yesterdays session with Trotter at the ASNE Reynolds High School Journalism Institute. I seriously doubt anyone will forget the experience or points made due to the incredibly strong examples of narrative story telling techniques used to illicit emotional appeal.
Angelique McClain
Dixie Hollins High School
St. Petersburg, Fla.
I must admit. At first I didn't see how Trotter's idea of using narrative writing in journalism could really work. And yet, as I sat there with tears streaming down my face, I saw the power our words can have on our readers. I don't know that the narrative idea will work with most types of news writing, but it can certainly work throughout almost all other types of journalistic writing. I'm eager to read the story Trotter read to us to my class. It will have a huge impact on them, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteTraci Peugh
North Medford High School
Medford, Ore.
One thing i wondered throughout the whole lesson was, how much of the narrative elements of writing can we use in regular news stories. I've seen it done before. I tried doing it in my "Doig" article but Steve Crossed it out. I'm sure I didn't do it correctly. But narrative elements such as describing the senses does make writing more interesting...?
ReplyDeleteThe excellent examples Jim Trotter shared with us reminded me more of the types of writing we do in English class rather than journalism. I too am wondering how to effectively incorporate sensory description into news stories. Is this method only effective with more extensive feature stories? I would like to hear more ideas about how to get student journalists to report and write stories like the ones Jim shared.
ReplyDeleteAmber Lineweaver
Clayton Valley High
Concord California
When Jim Trotter started to speak to all of us about the Final Salute, it absolutely brought me back to using this book as a feature story in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteIt saddens me of the idea of why this story was written, notifying parents and loved ones about their dead. However, the imagery in this book is beyond fantastic. When I read chapters at a time to my journalism students, there was not a dry eye in the classroom. Fabulous session.
Sara Gonzales
Cypress Lakes High School
Katy, TX