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.
- 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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
