The U.S. newspaper of record runs 33% feature leads New York's Grey Lady isn't so gray any more. Topping one-third of its stories with feature leads, The New York Times covers the world in living color. We analyzed 87 stories in the Dec. 15, 2014, edition of the Times. (We skipped the sports pages and one-paragraph stories.) Reporters started 29 of those pieces with … [Read more...] about The best of Times
Story structure
Crack the case
How to organize a case study A colleague in health system marketing counsels his case study writers to "Get the patient to the hospital." Wrong! When it comes to case studies, it's about the client's problem and results, silly, not your solutions. Here's how to use the feature-style story structure to organize a case study. I. Introduce the problem and client in the … [Read more...] about Crack the case
‘He said it right’
Make your leads concrete and creative Who said TV was bad for you? My West Wing binge watching is paying off with great writing tips. Here, some insights on approvals — and the right way to start a story: "CUT TO: INT. MARS BRIEFING REHEARSAL — DAY The TelePrompTer shows the name 'Galileo' on it and Sam's head pops up. The crewmembers of the NASA Public … [Read more...] about ‘He said it right’
Take a tip from Norm MacDonald
#RIPRobinWilliams tweets show how to serialize your story What can you learn from Norm MacDonald's Twitter tribute (would that be twibute?) to Robin Williams? What can't you learn?! MacDonald shows us how to serialize our stories, how to get the word out in 144 characters or less — and when to stop typing. Here are six tips to take from MacDonald's … [Read more...] about Take a tip from Norm MacDonald
Don’t say ‘when’
Date leads date your story In a “West Wing” episode, President Jed Bartlet is in the Oval Office, where a technician prepares to record his Saturday morning radio address. TECHNICIAN: "Here we go. In three, two ..." He holds up his index finger on "one," then points to Bartlet. BARTLET: "Good morning. This month, as autumn is in full bloom in much of … [Read more...] about Don’t say ‘when’