coaching print & online

Coaching Writers

Print & Online

Michael Roberts, The Arizona Republic

Choose a suitable design and hold to it. A basicstructural design underlies every kind of writing.Writing, to be effective, must follow closely thethoughts of the writer, but not necessarily in the orderin which those thoughts occur. This calls for a schemeor procedure…planning must be a deliberate preludeto writing. The first principle of composition, therefore,is to foresee or determine the shape of what is tocome and pursue that shape.

-- William Strunk, E.B. White, The Elements of Style

Most editing books work on the assumption that anyeditor can change any story in any way, and thatreporters can improve their work by reading thechanges in the paper the next day, intuiting theconcepts behind them and applying them in the nextstory. Missing from this scenario is one human beingtalking to another. Coaching involves nothing morethan talking with writers in certain ways.

-- Roy Peter Clark and Don Fry, Coaching Writers

The good editor is prepared for the copy’s arrival. Heor she will have worked with the writer planning andconceiving the idea, monitoring the reporting, andcollaborating on possible approaches to the writing.

-- Carl Sessions Stepp, Editing for Today’s Newsroom

Idea Report Organize Draft Revise

Coaching: 5 Stages of a Story

Inverted Pyramid

Most important information

Next most important

Less important

Less important

Least important

Block

Overview / Central point

Sub-point 1

Sub-point 2

Sub-point 3

Summary

Layer Cake

Scene conclusion

Background info

Scene

Background info

Scene

Background info

Scene

Background info

Scene

Wine Glass

Summary of entire storyBegins at the endSegues to start

StartNextNextNextNextNextNext

Ending / Kicker

Idea

Organize

Report Organize Draft Revise

Coaching: 5 Stages of a Story

CUTLINE 1: (Petri dish)

Take a rare tour inside an anthrax lab. Northern Arizona University has the world's largestcollection of anthrax with about 2,000 strains. This photo shows gray colonies of Bacillus anthracis,the bacterium that causes anthrax.

CUTLINE 1 REVISED: (Keim and vial)

Professor Paul Keim of Northern Arizona University played a key role in analyzing anthrax from the2001 letter attacks, the worst biological attacks in U.S. history. Twenty-two people were infectedand five died. Keim’s work made his NAU laboratory one of the leading anthrax research centers inthe world. Keim is moving to a new NAU lab in 2008 that will allow him to expand his research onother dangerous germs. Keim is pictured here with a magnified photo of a vial that contains asample of spinal fluid taken from a Florida photo editor who died of anthrax in the 2001 attacks.

Play Slide Show

Deer Valley HS JROTC

Deer Valley High School's Air Force JROTC program offers students a chance to learnmilitary customs, discipline, leadership skills and teamwork. This year 85 students enrolled inthe elective program, some with the goal of joining the military after graduation. The programcan be demanding and not everyone makes it to the end. Here cadets march in the Heart ofValor Veterans Day parade in Phoenix, including Jake Suss (front), Michael Campos (left),and Ethan McMannis (right).

Video story forms

Event Guide Profile

Slice of life Man on the street

Video story forms

Event: One-time event. Ongoing, recurring event.

Guide: Tour. Orientation. Consumer or participantinformation. How-to.

Profile: Person. Place. Organization.

Slice of life: Sights and sounds, often of the familiar.

Man on the street: Quotes and views from people.

Story (B)

PhotosAlt story formOnline linksPoll results

Story (A)(new lede)PhotosSlide showVideoBlogAlt story formLink setLive feedGuestbookPoll

Story (A)

PhotosSlide showVideoBlogAlt story formLink setLive feedGuestbookPoll

1-2 graphsPhoto

StoryPhotoVideoAlt story form

PrintUpdateUpdateNews PostAdvance

Morning Morning

Story (B)

Alt story form

Online links

Story (A)(new lede)Link set

Blog

Story (A)

Link set

Blog

2 graphs

Twitter

Advance

Twitter

PrintUpdateUpdateNews PostAdvance

Example: Arizona Urban Land Institute

By Catherine ReagorThe Arizona Republic Metro Phoenix's real-estate recovery isfurther off than expected. Top analysts and economists at UrbanLand Arizona's annual conferenceThursday said that the Valley's real-estatemarket will continue to slow this year andin 2010. A significant increase in homeprices and sales likely won't happen until2012. Here's why a recovery will take longerthan a year or two: The foreclosureproblem won't go away this year and willcontinue to push down home values. Andthe Valley's dependence on the threeindustries that led the nation intorecession -- construction, housing andfinancial services -- will make anyrecovery more difficult.

Story (B)

Online links

Story(huge crowd)

PollSlide show

Story(huge crowd)

PollPhotosLive video

Story (A)(no parade)

Poll(on parade)Live video

Advance

PrintUpdateUpdateNews PostAdvance

Example: Cardinals return from Super Bowl

PrintUpdateUpdateNews PostAdvance

Exercise: Your stories

Anticipated story

Enterprise off the news story