Homework

Write a short piece of news. Subject matter doesn’t matter and it doesn’t have to be groundbreaking, but I want it to be real. So: do the research. Interview the people, at the very least phone them. Get new quotes. Check the facts. Separate opinion and fact. Be as objective as you can be and if you can’t be objective, be transparent.

Analyze

One of these:

Gladwell: The Ketchup Conundrum
Orlean: Orchid Fever
Wired: 23AndMe
Kemp: American Communion

What is the subject matter? What is the author’s point of view? Who are the characters? What are the main plot points? How does the level of abstraction vary? And most importantly: did it make you feel anything?

Links

The Inverted Pyramid

Basic News Writing (pdf)
Chip Scanlan’s columns on writing
Breakable Rules for Literary Journalists
Interview tips for documentary filmmaking

Literature

Sims & Kramer: Literary Journalism
Boynton: The New New Journalism
Kramer & Call: Telling True Stories (Nieman)
Brady: The Craft of Interviewing
Blundell: The Art and Craft of Feature Writing (WSJ)
Franklin: Writing For Story (formulaic)