Some profile tips

PROFILES

1) CONTENT

Should include

--basic information including family, home town, education, occupation, likes-dislikes, hobbies, successes-failures

--brief physical description

EXAMPLES: "His mannerisms slightly resemble those of Woody Allen, although he is much taller and has much more hair."

--anecdotes, scenes

--telling quotes

--verification of claims. If a person claims to be a popular, well-respected professor, check with students, other professors.

2) STRUCTURE

-- Direct or delayed lead followed by a nutgraph summing up significance of profile then story.

--Should be organized thematically -- not in the order you discussed things with your subject in an interview.

--Avoid using questions in place of a strong transition. For example, instead of saying something like, "So why did he decide to join the Army?" Say something like, "After paying close attention to the news following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, he felt a growing sense that he should DO something. Within weeks, he had approached the Army recruiter who often sits at a table in a far corner of the Campus Center."

3) WRITING

--Keep the reporter OUT of the story. Don’t use first person.

--Avoid empty, generic, cliched, abstract language. Remember, SHOW, don’t TELL. Rather than describe a person as being a good leader, for example, relate an anecdote in which the subject of your profile is SHOWN to be a good leader. If a subject says something like, "I learned a leadership skills in the Army," ask him or her to give you an example of when he or she thought she demonstrated those skills. Ask someone who knows your subject to try to think of an example that demonstrates your subject’s leadership skills.

Instead of saying something like, "She was always interested in nature." Describe how your subject used to hunt butterflies as a child.

--Don’t be hagiographic – that is, don’t write the life of a saint or a public relations puff piece. Your reader wants to get to know your subject as a human being and doesn’t want to be “sold a bill of goods.” 

--Use only QUOTEWORTHY quotes. A quote should be colorful or otherwise give your reader an idea of how your subject talks. Don’t quote run-of-the mill answers to your questions. Don’t use slang like “Wanta,” coulda,” “gonna,” etc.

NOT good quotation material:

"I grew up in Pittsfield and went to the University of Vermont," Carey said.

GOOD quotation material.

"Heath Hatch had a philosophy when he was going through schooling as a kid. "I knew to pass a course, you had to accumulate a grade of 50 percent, and if I got a 51 percent, I felt like I was wasting energy." (This also makes a good lead.)

4) MECHANICS

--Remember -- after you mention your subject by full name, use last name only for the rest of your story.

--Commas and periods INSIDE quotation marks.

AP STYLE TIP

AGES: Always use figures. When the context does not require "years" or "years old," the figure is presumed to be years. Ages expresses as adjectives before a noun or as substitutes for a noun use hyphens. A 5-year-old boy. The boy is 5 years old. The boy, 7, has a sister, 10. The woman, 26, has a daughter 2 months old. The law is 8 years old. The race is for 3-year-olds. The woman is in her 30s. (NO apostrophe.)

Tips

JOURN 300/SPRING 2015 Tips

LEADS

Ø  Do NOT lead with a sweeping, unreported generalization; plunge right into the reported material

Ø  Lead should do more than just say the event occurred; should be direct and reader friendly; Should be engaging!

JUST THE FACTS

Ø  Closely observed, specific, concrete DETAILS will make or break your story.

Ø  Journalism is the reporting of the visible and verifiable. Reporters describe what they can observe and what identified sources tell them. Reporters don't speculate or presume to know about their subjects' mental states and do not relay information that they have not verified and substantiated with objective facts.

Ø  Keep your opinions/judgments out of the story. Don’t editorialize or make grand claims

Ø  Don’t pile on the adjectives and adverbs and reporter’s editorializing. For instance, instead of saying she is an extremely likable person , say, Her friends describe her as an “extremely likeable”  person.  (If they do.)

Ø  In general, keep the reporter and the mechanics  of the interview out of the story. Get to the story!

WRITING

Ø  Put your best, most vivid, reported material up top. Put details anyone could get off your subject’s resume low in the story

Ø  Double- and triple-check name spellings!

Ø  Use “said” vs other words like it

Ø  AP style is to NOT capitalize academic subjects & do not capitalize  job titles unless the title comes RIGHT before the job holder’s name

Ø  In general, write in past tense

Ø  News stories do NOT have essay-style conclusions

Ø  Don’t write  “When asked a question about this or that.” Just tell us what your source said. If need be you could say “As for this or that…”

Ø  Don’t alter direct quotations AT ALL.  But if a person says gonna or shoulda, write going to and should have…

Ø  Write with the idea that you will try to get it published. Don’t include material that will appear “dated” or as if  it’s “old news” a few weeks from now. If  your feature, for instance, is about an event that is coming up, mention the date and time of the event high in the story.

Ø  Describe/SHOW vs. Tell 

Ø  The more reporting, the better. You can’t make up for a lack of reporting by trying to write cleverly. For most stories, you will need several voices, so that you’re not going back to the same source for more than a couple or so paragraphs. Every page should have a lively, dynamic mix of voices – not just one person! 

Ø  Eliminate wordiness! Do NOT repeat anything!! 

Ø  Paraphrase or rewrite rather than using parentheses/brackets. You should only need to use parentheses once or twice a year – NOT once or twice in a single paper.

Ø  Keep quotes short so that they have a greater impact. Paraphrase!!

Ø  Don’t jam together, spliced by a comma,  two complete and unrelated sentences. For instance, don’t say something like, “Wearing her black moccasins, Jane Doe is a graduate of UMass.”  Avoid getting into traps like this by using SVO.

Ø  Commas and periods INSIDE quotation marks

Ø  Put TV shows, book titles, article titles, movie titles in quotation marks

What's coming up -- next few classes

THURSDAY FEB 5  MEET AT THE CAMPUS CENTER ROOM 162-75 at  4 pm to hear Antonia Calafat talk about chemical exposure and the effect on human health http://www.umass.edu/family/node/1980 

Take good notes, interview 2-3 people after the speech about what they found interesting, surprising, instructive etc.  

FOR NEXT CLASS: bring in hard copy of 650-750 word speech paper, with word count. Be sure to   include a strong lead and nutgraph, several quotes from the speaker and,  at the end of the paper, 2-3 direct quotes from audience members who you interview about the speech/event.

Also: 

• Read and complete Chapters 2 & 3 worksheets (on blog, under worksheets tab) 
• Bring in a written PROFILE pitch (a few sentences on who your profile subject is going to be, why he or she would be a good subject and a potential lead.)

FEB 10 PROFILE PITCH, continue analyzing interview videos.  

FOR NEXT CLASS: 1) BRING IN HARD COPY of 500 word “pre-first draft” profile with lead, nutgraph and quote(s) and 2)  read and complete worksheet on Chap. 7 on the Writer's Art.

FEB 12   In-class, deadline writing assignment : In pairs, interview 4 people on campus on subject TBA; write by the end of class, one 500 word story on-deadline with quotes from each of your sources. (5 percent of total grade) NEXT: Read Chap. 8 on Features.

FEB 17- NO CLASS/Monday scheduled followed/ work on profile first drafts

FEB 19  FIRST DRAFT PROFILE DUE (1,000 words, INCLUDE WORD COUNT) PEER EDIT.  Discuss feature stories.

SPEECH PAPER ESSENTIALS (750 words)

1) The lead should get to the heart of the event -- NOT just say it occurred.
2) Include in the first few sentences of the story A)what the occasion was, B)who sponsored it, C) where it was held and –D) how many attended. Include the title if there is one. It’s not necessarily to cram in every detail, such as what time it was held.
3) Nutgraph: This takes the reader beyond the lead and sums up in a few sentences the major points the speaker made or the basic gist of his/her argument/case/presentation. It’s a roadmap to the rest of the story. Can be combined with the paragraph that includes the title, name of occasion etc.
4) Body of story: Take the reader through the points that the speaker made in support of his or her case/main point/argument/presentation. Each paragraph should have a strong topic sentence. Provide specific examples and direct quotes.
5) Interview 3-4 people who attended for their reaction/thoughts. Don’t forget to include this at the end of your paper!