LeAnneRudy.com

So, I’ve been writing for my school paper for the past year and a half, and I thought I’d share some things I have learned about writing to any others out there who are looking for help. These mostly apply to writing news/feature-type articles and are mostly based on my observations and things I’ve found to help me.

1. Determine early who you want to interview and make appointments. I will admit it, I hate just calling people up to ask them for an interview. When I first started writing for the paper, I was terrified of talking to people for interviews, but I found that it was a lot easier if I made an appointment and was expected. I’ve found that people tend to give much better interviews if they have a chance to prepare and think about what they want to say in their interview. This is especially true if you’re interviewing students who maybe don’t have as much practice talking to reporters as a professor or public relations person. For me, I used to get my stories on Monday, send out an email that night to whoever I was supposed to contact. I would usually hear back from them by Tuesday or Wednesday, set up an interview for Thursday or Friday, and have my story written by Saturday morning. I realize this wouldn’t work for a breaking news story, but I mostly wrote feature-type stories. It also gave me time to research the topic, which brings me to:
2. Make sure you know what your story is about. Stories turn out much better if you have at least a working knowledge of what’s going on in them beforehand. You don’t have to become an expert on the subject, but if you’re writing about an upcoming play, at least google it before your interview. If you have no clue what’s going on, a lot of times your interviewee will get really annoyed with you.
3. Write down your questions ahead of time, but be willing to go with the flow. This is also where knowing your topic pays off. If you know what’s going on, you are definitely more able to ask relevant questions. This does not mean that you should only ask the questions on your list. Listen to what the person you’re interviewing is saying, and you might get something unexpected or even an idea for another story.
4. Bring a recorder. If you can get your hands on one, a recorder is very helpful, especially if you are handling a touchy issue or something you’re not familiar with. Taking notes is definitely a good skill to learn, but it’s a lot easier to glean quotes from a recording. Also, notes are subjective, because it’s what you, the reporter, hears. With a recording, you can verify that what you took away from the interview was what the interviewee intended.
5. Be as polite as possible. While this might seem obvious, it’s just very important to remember that the people you are talking to are taking time out of their schedule when they could be doing something much more interesting. Also, I’ve found that people are much more willing to help you out and open up if you are polite.
6. Make sure you get enough information for the article. This one takes some practice. Depending on who you’re writing for, you will most likely have a word count that you have to reach. Make sure that the people you talk to are giving you enough information, quotes and content to make your story long enough. Listen throughout the interview for things that sound quotable in the article. If you don’t think you have enough, then try to find someone else to interview or dig up some more background information. Nothing’s worse than having a 450 word article due in an hour, and only having 200 words.
7. Start with the most compelling aspect of the story. This is the classic inverted-pyramid style story, but it’s the industry standard for a reason. You want to hook readers with the most important information first.
8. Read your article out loud to make sure there are no easy mistakes. I’m just as guilty as the next person at this, but if a semester of copy editing taught me anything, it’s this. Make sure to check for homonyms and tricky words like your/you’re and they’re/their/there.

If you have any other things that you’ve found, I’d love to hear them in the comments.

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Add new tag, how to, newspapers

Okay, I know that to some RSS may sound like generic computer mumbo-jumbo, although it does stand for “Really Simple Syndication.” What RSS does is takes the content from sites and puts them in one convenient place for everyone to view.

So, I figured I’d do a quick tutorial of Google Reader. I use Google Reader because I can access it from any computer. If you’ve got a Google account, you’ve already got a ready-made RSS reader just waiting.

Step 1:

Go to http://reader.google.com and log in.

Step 2.

Go to a site you’d like to receive feed from (I picked English Fail Blog), and find the RSS button. Most blogs have either a button (like the one pictured) or a text link to a RSS page. Best places to look are in the content bar and on the bottom of the page. (Yes, sometimes they can be a little bit tricky to find.)

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how to, tech, tutorial

Do you know what I don’t understand? The pay feature for games on Facebook. I mean, the games are fun and all, but why am I going to pay my hard-earned cash for a couple Godfather points or to unlock a pay-only outfit? I mean, seriously.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, the conversion rate is outrageous. For example, if I pay $5 dollars to Mafia Wars, I get 21 Godfather points. That can get me one (1!) “experimental crate” that has a 60% chance of being a common item. If I wanted to waste $5 that way, I’d go get a grab bag at the Sanrio store. At least maybe then I’d get a Hello Kitty notepad.

In all honesty, I don’t understand how these things make any money at all. The people who have that sort of extra cash would seem to be the sort of people who would not have an interest in that sort of game in the first place. It’s not like they generally unlock mini-games, or are even particularly helpful in the game you’re playing.

Seriously, people. What is this?

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crazy, facebook, tech

If you are thinking the Nerdfighters are an alien race sent to exterminate all the geeks of the world, you’re wrong.

A nerdfighter is someone who is a fan of John and Hank Green, and the web following they have created. I say fan, but it’s more of a community they’ve created of likeminded people (who have nerd-ish tendencies).

The infamous duo

The whole thing started when John and Hank decided at the beginning of 2007 to go an entire year without communicating textually. Instead they posted videos on YouTube every weekday, alternating days. Every email, text, etc. required a “punishment,” which was usually performing some gross and/or embarrassing task and posting the video.

They say they did not expect the series to take off the way that it did, but Brotherhood 2.0 became a YouTube hit, due to their humor mixed with interesting debate on topics ranging from Marshmallow Peeps to raising money for charity. Not to mention the success of Hank’s song Accio Deathly Hollows, which hit the front page of YouTube from all the fellow Harry Potter fans who  understood his frustration at the time it was taking for the last book to be released.

Two years and 100,000 subscribers later, the Vlogbrothers  continue to make videos on their account. The Nerdfighters have become an internet army of sorts, helping John’s third novel Paper Towns make it to the NYT Young Adult bestseller list and even talking Ashton Kutcher into following him on Twitter. They’ve taken over YouTube for charity twice, and eaten innumerable peeps.

All in all, they never forget to be awesome.

Key Phrases:

An Abundance of Katherines: John’s second book
Decepticon: Evil person
DFTBA: Don’t Forget To Be Awesome
In Your Pants: The theory that every book title becomes more awesome once you add “in your pants” to the end. ”
The Katherine: Hank’s wife
Looking for Alaska: John’s first book
Paper Towns: John’s third book
Puppy-Sized Elephant: John’s dream of evolution
So Jokes: Super cool, awesome. Also the name of Hank’s album.
The Yeti: John’s wife. I don’t think her face has ever appeared in a video.
Zombies vs. Unicorns: A question for the ages.

Want More?

Nerdfighters.com ( FAQ )
John’s Twitter
Hank’s Twitter
DFTBA Records
Ecogeek.org

This is the first in a series of nerd/geek/fandom explanatory posts that I hope to make. If you’ve got a question you’d like answered, or a “nerd thing” you’d like clarified, leave a comment! If I’ve left anything out, feel free to let me know.

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nerd, nerdfighters, photos, tech, video, who is?

I know, it’s been a long time. I’ve had a lot of personal things to deal with, so I haven’t been focusing on this site. However, I finally have some ideas with the direction I want to go with this blog. Thanks for the wait! Also, people who have Livejournal can add this blog to their flist here.

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personal, site

Okay, so I admit it. I joke about hating living in Wisconsin, and sometimes it’s honest. But for the most part, I don’t mind it. I live just a couple of hours from a big city, and two decent sized ones. If I don’t mind driving, I can find plenty of things to do. But this? Why, Wisconsin?

MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin police can attach GPS to cars to secretly track anybody’s movements without obtaining search warrants, an appeals court ruled Thursday.

However, the District 4 Court of Appeals said it was “more than a little troubled” by that conclusion and asked Wisconsin lawmakers to regulate GPS use to protect against abuse by police and private individuals.

As the law currently stands, the court said police can mount GPS on cars to track people without violating their constitutional rights — even if the drivers aren’t suspects.

The article from the Chicago Tribune, bothers me to no end. I am one of those few people still very skeptical of GPS. I don’t like the idea of anyone being able to find me wherever I go, and the concept that this is no difference than what could be achieved through surveillance is complete bull. It’s not the same, because they can monitor any number of people without being out on the streets. I could have one on my car, and not even know it.

I could say a lot more things about it, but I really need to stop looking at Digg, and get some homework done.

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tech, wisconsin

I’m trying out this new Flock Browser, and so far it’s pretty spiffy. The premise is a browser that’s focused on social media. Still working on it, so we’ll see how much I like it in the future.

Flock Browser - The Social Web Browser

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browser, cool, tech

So, I haven’t posted on here in a while (around here we have this funny little tradition we like to call “finals”), but this story was too amazing to pass up.

Chuck Norris protects baker

Store bosses have seen off burglars by placing a life-sized photo of Hollywood action star Chuck Norris in the window.

The posh bakery shop in Split, Croatia, had been broken into almost every week until they put up the poster of the karate champ with a sign saying: “This shop is under the protection of Chuck Norris.”

Now the bakery hasn’t had a single burglary for more than a month.

Sales assistant Mirna Kovac said: “To be honest we just started it as a joke but it really has worked. Thieves haven’t been anywhere near us for ages. People seem to respect him.

“Everyone around here has seen his films and he’s quite a popular character, perhaps even among criminals, so they’ve decided to leave us alone.”

She added though: “We have had a few customers come in and ask us whether they can get Chuck’s autograph. They really believe he is sitting in our storeroom out the back ready to pounce on any burglars.”

from Ananova

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chuck norris, crazy, croatia, nerd

…Yum.

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