Ranly on Writing: Two-Day Program

Day One

  1. Good communication is appropriate
    1. To the subject matter
      1. Know it
      2. Feel it
      3. Express it
    2. To the audience
      1. Who is reading?
        1. Getting attention
        2. Keeping attention – how much time?
        3. Getting action
      2. Who is understanding
        1. Decline in literacy
        2. Reading levels
      3. Who is believing?
        1. Sophisticated
        2. Skeptical
        3. Distracted
    3. To the medium
      1. Speeches
      2. Radio
      3. Television, film
      4. Print
        1. Newspaper
        2. Magazine
        3. Newsletter
          1. Bulletin board
          2. News/letter
          3. Magaletter
        4. Internet
  2. Aims of the communicator
    1. To get attention
    2. To be understood
    3. To be interesting
    4. To be believed
    5. To get action
  3. Reinventing print
    1. Save readers time
    2. Address different levels of news interest
    3. Become more personally useful
    4. Become more accessible
    5. Become more user-friendly
    6. Become more engaging and interactive
    7. Address niche audiences more effectively

Achieving Credibility: The Qualities of Effective Writing

  1. Correct
    1. Facts
    2. Spelling
    3. Grammar
  1. Consistent
    1. Style
    2. Treatment
      1. Titles
      2. Women, men – sexism
    3. Approach
      1. Person
      2. Tense
      3. Voice
    4. Feeling, mode, tone
  2. Clear
    1. Content – focus, angle, purpose, point, peg
    2. Execution
      1. Simple words
      2. Simple sentences
      3. Simple paragraphs
  1. Concise
    1. To be clear
    2. To save the reader time
    3. To save money
  2. Coherent
    1. Unity
    2. Coherence
    3. Emphasis
  3. Complete
    1. The inverted pyramid
      1. The news story
      2. The newsletter story
      3. The memo
      4. The letter
    2. The verted pyramid – the feature

Day Two

  1. Creative – Being concrete
    1. Beginning the story
      1. Using a person
      2. Setting the scene
      3. Using an anecdote
      4. Using dialogue
      5. Being chronological – narrative
      6. Using first person
    1. In the story itself
      1. Use nouns
      2. Use transitive verbs – in the active voice
      3. Use examples
      4. Make comparisons
      5. Appeal to the senses (SHOW ME!)

Selling the copy: Writing titles, captions, blurbs

  1. Titles
    1. Correct
    2. Clear or concise and cryptic (with blurb)
    3. Clever (catchy – not cute)
    4. Compatible
  2. Captions
    1. Complement
    2. Connect
  3. Blurbs
    1. Captivate (external)
    2. Coax (internal)

Service (Refrigerator) Journalism

  1. What is service journalism?
    1. The reader must perceive the subject as being personally useful.
    2. The writer must present the article in the most usable way.
    3. The writer must get the message used
  2. Working principles of service journalism
    1. Save the reader time
      1. Be concise
      2. Be clear
        1. Involve the reader
          1. How I …
          2. How you …
          3. How Jane Doe …
            1. Find an expert
            2. Find a celebrity
            3. Find an amateur
        2. Think usefulness
        3. Think news or new
        4. Think money
          1. Make money
          2. Save money
          3. Free
  3. Devices and techniques of service journalism
    1. Lists
      1. Do's, don'ts
      2. Advantages, disadvantages
      3. "Five" ways
    2. Subheads
      1. Outline
      2. Entry points
    3. Blurbs
      1. External
      2. Internal
    4. Sidebars and Boxes
      1. References
        1. Call
        2. Read
      2. Notes
      3. Glossaries
      4. Biographies
    5. Quizzes, crosswords, games
    6. Charts
      1. Bar charts
      2. Graphic journalism