Feature and Magazine Writing

Opis

Updated with fresh facts, examples and illustrations, along with two new chapters on digital media and blogs this third edition continues to be the authoritative and essential guide to writing engaging and marketable feature stories.

Covers everything from finding original ideas and angles to locating expert sources
Expanded edition with new chapters on storytelling for digital media and building a story blog
Captivating style exemplifies the authors’ expert guidance, combining academic authority with professional know-how
Comprehensive coverage of all the angles, including marketing written work and finding jobs in the publishing industry
Essential reading for anyone wishing to become a strong feature writer
Accompanied by a website with a wealth of resources including PowerPoint presentations, handouts, and Q&As that will be available upon publication: www.wiley.com/go/sumnerandmiller

Spis treści

Title page 6
Copyright page 7
Contents 8
Preface 10
About the Authors 13
PART I: Reading, Writing and Relevance 14
- 1: What Makes a Story Interesting? 16
  - Key Points 16
  - Five Mistakes of Beginning Writers 20
    - Staying safe in your own backyard 20
    - Choosing a broad topic that lacks an angle 21
    - Failing to dig deep 22
    - Writing without anecdotes 24
    - Writing boring articles 24
  - Assignments 25

Title page 6
Copyright page 7
Contents 8
Preface 10
About the Authors 13
PART I: Reading, Writing and Relevance 14
- 1: What Makes a Story Interesting? 16
  - Key Points 16
  - Five Mistakes of Beginning Writers 20
    - Staying safe in your own backyard 20
    - Choosing a broad topic that lacks an angle 21
    - Failing to dig deep 22
    - Writing without anecdotes 24
    - Writing boring articles 24
  - Assignments 25
  - In-Class Activities 25
  - Notes 26
- 2: How to Find an Original Idea 27
  - Key Points 27
  - Determine Your Angle 28
  - Nine Places to Find Ideas 30
    - 1. Yellow Pages of telephone directories 32
    - 3. Old magazines and magazine archives 33
    - 2. Small-town newspapers (print and online) 33
    - 4. Bulletin boards 34
    - 6. Faculty biographies on university websites 35
    - 7. Association directories 35
    - 5. Events calendars 35
    - 8. CQ Researcher 36
    - 9. Ask for tips and leads 37
  - In-Class Activities 37
  - Assignments 38
  - Notes 38
- 3: Strong Angles and Focused Ideas 39
  - Key Points 39
  - Summarize Your Story Idea in a Single Sentence 40
    - The angle tree 41
  - Characteristics of a Focused Angle 41
  - How to Know if Your Topic is Too Broad 45
    - If you can find a book 45
    - If someone could write a book 46
    - If your proposed title has no verbs 46
  - How to Narrow Your Topic 47
    - “Nationalize” a local topic 47
    - Find a news peg 47
    - Decide what you want to know 48
    - Find a unique source 48
    - Use the funnel of focus 49
  - Summary 49
  - Assignments 50
  - In-Class Activities 50
  - Notes 51
- 4: Digging Deep for Original Stories 52
  - Key Points 52
  - The “40–40–20” Rule of Research 52
  - Why You Need Libraries 54
  - Why Interviews are Essential 55
  - Primary Sources: Vital for Originality 57
  - The Internet: Primary or Secondary Source? 59
    - Speeches, reports and judicial decisions 59
    - Reports from companies, government agencies and nonprofits 60
    - Original statistical data 60
    - Congressional reports and testimonies 61
    - Academic studies and scholarly journal articles 61
    - Correspondence and papers 62
  - Copyright and Fair Use 62
    - What copyright doesn’t protect 64
    - The good news 65
  - In-Class Activities 66
  - Assignments 67
  - Notes 67
- 5: Talking Pointers: How to Conduct Great Interviews 68
  - Key Points 68
  - First, You Prepare 70
  - Insights vs. Information 74
  - Identifying Experts and Actors 75
  - Get Ready, Get Set 76
  - Off to a Strong Start 77
  - But What If . . . ? 78
  - Time to Switch Roles 80
  - In-Class Activities 84
  - Assignments 84
  - Notes 85
- PART II: Taking Your Articles to the Freelance Market 86
  - 6: To Market, To Market: Shopping Your Words Around 88
    - Key Points 88
    - Discovering Available Resources 90
    - Collecting Writers’ Guidelines 93
    - Analyzing Markets—On Your Own 94
      - Get to know the readers 95
      - Take note of the editor’s notes 96
      - Pick up on masthead clues 97
      - Study the table of contents 98
      - Read sample articles 99
    - New Kids on the Block 100
    - Persistence Pays 102
    - In-Class Activities 102
    - Assignments 102
    - Notes 103
  - 7: Pitch-Perfect Query Letters 104
    - Key Points 104
    - In Pursuit of Perfection 105
      - What’s the big idea? 106
      - First impressions are important 106
    - Essential Components of a Query 108
      - Crafting the lead paragraph 108
      - Summarizing a timely topic 109
      - Writer’s credentials 110
      - Nuts and bolts information 110
    - What Not to Include in a Query 111
    - When to Query 113
    - Snail Mail vs. E-mail Queries 114
    - P.S. Try Again 116
    - Sample Query Letters 116
      - Sample query 1 117
      - Sample query 2 118
    - In-Class Activities 118
    - Assignments 119
    - Notes 119
  - PART III: Adding Action and Anecdotes 120
    - 8: Where to Begin: The First 100 Words 122
      - Key Points 122
      - Coming to Terms With Leads 123
      - Beyond the Summary Lead 124
      - Leads that Succeed 126
        
        Anecdote lead 127
        
        Shock lead 128
        
        Scenario lead 128
        
        Blind lead 129
        
        Direct-address lead 130
        
        Direct or indirect quote lead 130
      - Mistakes to Avoid 131
      - Endings that Satisfy Readers 132
      - Identifying the Bookends 133
      - Assignments 134
      - In-Class Activities 134
      - Notes 135
    - 9: Action, Brevity and Style 136
      - Key Points 136
      - Use Action Verbs 139
      - write In Active Voice 142
      - Avoid Dead Constructions 143
      - Include the Details 144
      - Write Concisely 145
      - Choose Your Viewpoint 146
      - In-Class Activities 148
      - Assignments 149
      - Notes 150
    - 10: Anecdotes: Mining for Gold 151
      - Key Points 151
      - Creating a Scene 152
      - The power of the Anecdote 153
      - Characteristics of Anecdotes 154
        
        Make them relevant 154
        
        Keep them short 154
        
        Keep them real 155
        
        Stress the specific 156
        
        Give them a beginning, middle and end 157
        
        Place them strategically 159
      - Searching for Anecdotes 160
      - In-Class Activities 162
      - Assignments 162
      - NOTES 163
    - PART IV: Different Formats, Different Results 164
      - 11: Briefs: Shortcuts to Publication 166
        
        Key Points 166
        
        Offering a Local Angle 167
        
        The Wide, Wide World of Shorts 168
        
        Briefs vs. Fillers 169
        
        Shopping for Shorts and Briefs 170
        
        Flexible List Articles 171
        
        Recycling Anecdotes 176
        
        Personal-Experience Shorts 176
        
        Beyond the Blurb 177
        
        Assignments 179
        
        Notes 179
        
        In-Class Activities 179
      - 12: Profiles: Slices of Life 180
        
        Key Points 180
        
        Avoiding Profiles That Gush 181
        
        Pursuing Warts and All 183
        
        Assembling The Picture 185
        
        Offering Different Perspectives 186
        
        Adding Color to the Picture 188
        
        File for the Future 189
        
        Putting a Face on an Issue 190
        
        From Quick Takes to Roundups 191
        
        Experimenting With the Q & A 192
        
        At home with Julie Andrews 194
        
        In-Class Activities 197
        
        Notes 198
        
        Assignments 198
      - 13: Writing Nonfiction Narratives 199
        
        Key Points 199
        
        Characteristics of a Good Narrative 201
        
        Main character 202
        
        Plot 203
        
        Resolution 204
        
        Chronology 205
        
        Types of Plots 205
        
        Victim to survivor 206
        
        Rising to the challenge 206
        
        Failure to achievement 206
        
        Saving the world 207
        
        Chaos to meaning 207
        
        Love conquers all 208
        
        Where to Find Good Stories 208
        
        Tips on Telling Stories 209
        
        Do in-depth interviews 209
        
        Build suspense 211
        
        Chronicle the events 212
        
        Tips on Character Development 212
        
        Create an emotionally satisfying ending 214
        
        In-Class Activities 214
        
        Assignments 215
        
        83 Minutes of life delivers lifetime of memories, grief for parents 215
        
        Notes 222
      - 14: Eliminating the Ho-Hum From the How-To 224
        
        Key Points 224
        
        Looking For Answers 225
        
        Three Characteristics of Service Articles 226
        
        The Four-Part Formula 228
        
        Tangible vs. Intangible How-To Articles 230
        
        Deliver The Goods 230
        
        How-To Articles As Sidebars 232
        
        Where to Look For How-To Ideas 232
        
        Pulling It All Together 234
        
        Hospitality begins at home 235
        
        In-Class Activities 236
        
        Assignments 236
        
        Notes 237
      - 15: Making a Timely Calendar Connection 238
        
        Key Points 238
        
        Fast Forward Four to Six Months 240
        
        Creating a Seasonal Link 241
        
        Forget “The First Thanksgiving” 242
        
        Connecting the Dots 243
        
        New Life for Old Topics 246
        
        Birthday Issues Reap Rewards 247
        
        In-Class Activities 248
        
        Assignments 248
        
        Notes 249
      - 16: Writing About Trends and Issues 250
        
        Key Points 250
        
        Definition of Trend Stories 251
        
        Definition of Issue Stories 252
        
        Five Characteristics of Trend and Issue Stories 252
        
        Where to Look For Trend and Issue Stories 253
        
        How to Choose the Best Angle 256
        
        How to Do the Reporting 257
        
        In-Class Activities 259
        
        Assignments 260
        
        Steppin’ out: Americans give ballroom dancing a whirl—again! 260
        
        Notes 263
      - PART V: Exploring Digital Opportunities 266
        
        17: Building a Story Blog 268
        
        Key Points 268
        
        What Type of Blog? 269
        
        Creator Blogs 270
        
        Conversationalist Blogs 271
        
        Critic Blogs 272
        
        Collector Blogs 273
        
        Beyond the Page 273
        
        Podcasts 274
        
        Vlogs (Video Blogs) 275
        
        The Fear 275
        
        In-Class Activities 276
        
        Assignments 276
        
        Notes 277
        
        18: Long-Form Digital Storytelling 278
        
        Key Points 278
        
        Defining Digital Storytelling 279
        
        Cinematic Story Elements 281
        
        Basic Heuristics and Guidelines 282
        
        Heuristic 1: interaction vs. engagement 283
        
        Heuristic 2: keep your navigation simple 283
        
        Heuristic 3: design matters 284
        
        The Production Cycle 285
        
        In-Class Activities 287
        
        The Future of the Magazine 287
        
        Assignments 288
        
        Notes 288
        
        PART VI: Preparing the Final Draft 290
        
        19: Advancing Beyond the Slush Pile 292
        
        Key Points 292
        
        Seven Places to Never Use a Comma 294
        
        Seven Places to Always Use a Comma 295
        
        Seven Other Punctuation Marks 297
        
        Seven Frequent Grammar Mistakes 299
        
        The Seven Most Common Ap Stylebook Mistakes 301
        
        Concluding Thoughts 304
        
        Assignments 305
        
        Notes 305
        
        In-Class Activities 305
        
        20: Before You Hit the “Send” Button 306
        
        Key Points 306
        
        Notes 311
        
        21: Careers in Magazine Publishing 312
        
        Key Points 312
        
        Business-to-Business Publications 313
        
        Association Magazines and Sponsored Publications 315
        
        What About New York? 316
        
        What About a Master’s Degree? 318
        
        Practical Tips on Job-Hunting 319
        
        Develop good work habits 319

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David E. Sumner: Ball State University, USA

Action, Angle, and Anecdotes

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