Skrivekursus iwdk frivillige

Writing and working as a journalistWorkshop, IWDK volunteers, 23 April 2014

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• Spot the good story

• Be aware of your target audience

• Compose a news article

• Focus on read-friendly language

• Write for web

• Cope with the frustrations of writing

This workshop is meant to give you some tips & tricks on how to…

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• Casper Svoldgaard

• Journalist from DMJX

• 2 years aa a reporter at Jyllands-Posten

• Communications consultant at

Publico Kommunikation since

2007, mainly responsible for PR and

all things digital

About me

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News criteria

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A good news article meets a number of the following nine criteria:

• Sensation

• Significance

• Actuality/timing

• Identification

• Conflict

• Proximity

• Human interest

• Prominence

• Documentation

News critieria5 classic and 4 new

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News criteriaNot to forget – novelty

“When a dog bites a man, no one cares.

When the man bites back – now that’s a news story.”

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Note: Who, what, where, when, why, how (communication of facts)

News article: As per the inverted pyramid (explanatory note with more substance)

Interview: E.g.. Q/A

Reportage: Active outreach, perceptive, descriptive, explanatory, several research forms

Feature: Visually evocative prose style, entertaining, personal, soft topics

for example. people / environment, engages the reader, new journalism (Tom Wolfe)

Background article: Behind the news, causes, consequences, context, circumstances,

perspectives, experts, analyzes

Portrait: Linguistically as the feature, 360 interviews, personal, perhaps critical

Investigating reporting: The watchdog, reconstruction, extensive research (Pullitzer)

Commentary / Review / Analysis: Personal stance, editorial, columns

Voxpop: Inquiry (interview-variety), same question to a number of people to spot a trend

Journalistic genres

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Target audience

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With a clear picture of your target audience, you can:

• minimize noise in your communication

• Choose the right level of communication

• Speak at eye level

Target audienceWhy?

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Target audienceHow?

Purpose

• What is the purpose of the text? (idea/message)

• Is that clear to the reader?

Tips & Tricks

• Stick to ONE purpose

• Define the pupose in one sentence

• The more narrowly, the better

• Present the text's purpose early and clear to the reader

•Kilde: Lund & Steensbech, 1999

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Target audienceHow?

Media

• What type of media?

• Is the type of media consumed

thoroughly or superficially ?

• Is it consumed systematically or by

skimming through?

Tips & tricks:

• Make sure that the purpose fits the type of

media and the consuming pattern of

the media.

Kilde: Lund & Steensbech, 1999

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Target audienceHow?

Audience:

• Who are they?

• Why should they read this text?

• What’s new?

• What do you know about the subject?

• What are their opinion about the subject?

• What are their interest in the subject?

Tips & tricks:

• Use personas

Kilde: Lund & Steensbech, 1999

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What are personas?

• Personas are fictional archetypes, created by information about the target audience

• They are "real" people and not a diffuse group

• We can approachto them, as we approach a anyfriend / colleague

• Everyone involved knows the relevant personas

• Personas makes your audience - and thus your text – come alive

• Met

Target audiencePersonas

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The good persona:

• Is based on interviews

• Focuses on details, avoid generalizations

• Takes up 1-2 pages

• Is made visual by photo


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The building blocksof the text

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The building blocks of the textThe inverted pyramid

Principle:

First Thing First!

The news(Conclusion)

Background(Premises)

Details(Deeper into the subject)

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Template for text structure:

Introduction: tells the news

Elaboration: explains and elaborates

Background: (the premises– if necessary)

Secondary information: (details– if there are anyrelevant)

The inverted pyramid

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Adam and Eve expelled from Paradise

GOODBYE: Turtledoves are forced to work and lose the right to eternal life because theytasted forbidden fruit.

Last night The Lord threw Adam and Eve out of Paradise. This means that mankind nowhave lost the right to live forever, and that in future they must toil and slave for a living.

Lord: Behavior is sufficient proof

The decision on deportation was taken after the Lord had learned that Adam and Eve

despite the ban had eaten fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. They were immediatelyexpelled, and it has not been possible to get in touch with them since.

- They have both admitted that they have tasted the fruit. But their behavior and

the gnawed fruit itself was proof enough, says the Lord to The Paradise Journal.

The inverted pyramidin use

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A news article can be structured with wh-words:

• Who?

• What?

• Where?

• When?

• Why?

Example:

Casper Svoldgaard (who) teaches at a thrilling workshop (what) by Seismonaut in Aarhus

(where). The course will take place Thursday, April23, 2014 (when). The purpose is to inspire

IWDK volunteers to write and work as a journalist (why).

Principle of newsWh-words

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The building blocks of the textAn overview

Headline

Must be inciting, covering and provoking

Preamble

Should summarize the article

Introduction

Must capture the reader

Subheading

Must cover the content of the paragraph

Sidebar/Fact box

Reserved for factual information

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The building blocks of the textheadline

Headline

The headline must:

• express the essence of the text

• be inciting, covering and provoking

• sell the story to the reader by arousecuriosity

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Tips for good headings:

• Puns/wordplay; "Anonymous Melancholics"

• Alliteration; ”The banks are bleeding"

• Figurative language; "The money is pouring out"

• Ambiguity; ” A good life depends on a liver"

• Metaphors: sports (the goal is), war (frontlines are drawn) Transport (taking the fast lane)

The building blocks of the textheadline

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The building blocks of the textPreamble

Preamble

The preamble is a summary of the contentof the text and must:

• Make the reader want to read the article

• Help the writer stick to the course

Tips for a good preamble:

Answer the question: What do I want to tell?

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The building blocks of the textIntroduction

Introduction

The introduction must:

• capture the reader's attention

• tell what the core of the story is

• entice readers to continue reading

Tipsfor introductions:

• Use sensory expression to create images insidethe reader's head

• Spend 25-30 per cent of the total writetime on the introduction

• Do not assume that the reader has read the preamble

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Example

The Scandinavian charter industry is heading for new heights. Even though a number of budget airlines has stuck their nose wheels outin the Nordic airports, travel agents areexperiencing no turbulence. On the contrary. An average Danish household spendsmore than twice the amount on pre-packed vacations than 15 years ago - even after the figures are adjusted for society's general price increases.

The building blocks of the textIntroduction

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The building blocks of the textSubheader

Subheader

The subheader is a title to a section in the body and must:

• Be covering for the content of the section

• Make the reader want to read the section

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Words on the gold weight

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Words on the gold weightDaily language or industryterminology?

informalFormal

Education

Expert knowledge

Spilloversfrom the source

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Daily language:•Simple•Vivid•Figurative•Light and easy•Active•Concretely

Good for everyone

Industry terminology:•Complicated•Rigid•Non-figurative•Heavy•Passive•Abstract

Only for insiders

InformalFormal

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The golden rule: The reader must understand and accept the text!

Therefore:

• Think of the recipient's information needs

• Write factual and objectively but informal

• Make the text as specific/concrete as possible


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Words on the gold weightThe abstraction ladder

• Acquisition• Buy • Purchase of motor vehicles• Purchase of motor vehicle• Andersen's purchase of a motor

vehicle• Andersen's purchase of a car• Andersen bought a car• Andersen bought a car last year.

Abstract

Concrete

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Particularformats

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The web surfer is an impatient snail

Particular formatsWriting for web

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The reading pattern on the web is different from that of

printed media:

• We read the 25 percent slower on a screen

• We jump between parallel information

• We scan for the interesting points

• We are less patient

Remember: We are often looking for specific information!

Writing for webWhy?

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A good web writer takes into account the nature f the Internet:

• Answers the readers' questions - fast!

• Uses short paragraphs (preferably 2-3 lines)

• Writes many subheaders

• Uses bullet points

• Uses photo captions

Writing for webWhat?

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3 simple writing rules:

1. Write in order of importance – first thing first

2. Write so that each section can be read independently of the other

3. Stick to one single point per section

Writing for webHow?

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Writing for webLike this

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The proces of writing

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Most people know the fear of the blank screen.

Classical barriers are:

• Difficult material and subject

• Time pressure

• Expectations (own and others)

• Perfectionism

The proces of writingHow?

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The writing process is often seen as a linear process with the phases:

1. generating ideas

2. Gathering material

3. organizing

4. writing

5. editing


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In reality the process is rather a cycle consisting of:


gathering of knowledge

revision

composing

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Help to help yourself:

• Know yourself: Are you a voracious reader or a rewriter?

• Set rules for yourself (how long may the job take)

• Get any missing information (talk to someone / is the objective clear?)

• Write away - you can always delete!

• Leave the text be and return later with fresh eyes


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Revision and feedback are neglected elements of the writing process:

• "That's not writing"

• Time pressure

• Bad experiences with unconstructive feedback


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You give good feedback when you:

• start with something positive

• tell about your intention ("The reason why I say this ...")

• articulates criticism as a desire ("I'd like some more of ...")

• ask open-ended questions ("Can you elaborate on that, can you give examples")

• choose your words carefully


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Three tips for feedback:

• Print the text, read out loud

• Kill your darlings

• Get feedback several times and from several different people


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