So the only time I find I'm any good at editing is when I print my stories, read them out loud, scribble over them in multi-colored ink, and then print them again to repeat.
Justin Doubleday, the editor at TNH, printed my Randy Pierce story. I didn't remember most of the changes I made so I was reading through it and I thought, wow, he changed a lot.
Going through and editing the story tonight so that I can pass it in tomorrow, I realized that Doubleday only changed a few small things!
So what happened?
Well, the night the article was due, I was definitely on a time crunch. I didn't have time to print it out and scribble all over it. I had to read it off the screen silently while my boyfriend read the printed copy. Time got shorter and shorter. My heartbeat was as loud as the second-hand on my watch.
I finally made my changes online and submitted it with about 15 minutes left before my news writing conference.
When I went back to the article, I didn't recognize the edits because I didn't print out the story. Ha.
Life is comical.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Feeling the pressure
I have to confess: I'm starting to feel the pressure. This past week, I was working on two stories at once. And I could definitely tell the difference between the stories.
As an ignoramus, I thought that I was supposed to love every article I wrote. Not the case. I love writing. I don't always love what I have to talk about.
So I write well to write well. I write well to report the necessary information, and I write well (or try to) for a good grade in my class.
That's what I did for my Marc Ellis paper--my first story this week. I wrote a news story, and I did my best to write it well, though I hated it in the end. I was majorly interested in the topic, but when it was done it was done and that was that.
But I feel a different pressure now. Because I have TONS of information right here. I could right a book on this guy. And to be honest, I want to. But I'm limited to 1500 words or less.
1500. 1-5-0-0.
The weirdest part of this is the new kind of pressure I feel. Yes, I'm writing about news. Randy Pierce is in the news. But I want to write this well not for a grade and not to do his story justice (because every one else has already done that) but because he and his mission deserve my very best.
The pressure's on because I know I can't deliver the way I want to. Because his message and his acceptance and his drive are so strong. How could I ever write a story that could truly let the public university know how amazing Randy Pierce is?
As an ignoramus, I thought that I was supposed to love every article I wrote. Not the case. I love writing. I don't always love what I have to talk about.
So I write well to write well. I write well to report the necessary information, and I write well (or try to) for a good grade in my class.
That's what I did for my Marc Ellis paper--my first story this week. I wrote a news story, and I did my best to write it well, though I hated it in the end. I was majorly interested in the topic, but when it was done it was done and that was that.
But I feel a different pressure now. Because I have TONS of information right here. I could right a book on this guy. And to be honest, I want to. But I'm limited to 1500 words or less.
1500. 1-5-0-0.
The weirdest part of this is the new kind of pressure I feel. Yes, I'm writing about news. Randy Pierce is in the news. But I want to write this well not for a grade and not to do his story justice (because every one else has already done that) but because he and his mission deserve my very best.
The pressure's on because I know I can't deliver the way I want to. Because his message and his acceptance and his drive are so strong. How could I ever write a story that could truly let the public university know how amazing Randy Pierce is?
Monday, March 25, 2013
French connection
An assassin held up a gun. An officer remained steady and said, "You're not going to get away with this. Put the gun down."
Earlier in the day, James "Popeye" Doyle was taking a solemn walk. His eyes were focused on the ground. He came upon a woman pushing around a baby carriage when there were about 5 gun shots fired his way.
The woman fell down dead instantly.
"Get out of here!" Doyle shouted to women who walked near the dead mother. The baby was shrieking in the carriage. The woman lay still. Doyle was on the ground, under cover by a tree.
On a sunny day, an assassin fired two more shots from a roof top building nearby. Doyle ran alongside the building, trying to see the sniper. He entered the building and ascended to the top, where he found an abandoned weapon and 7 bullet shells.
From a distance, Doyle could see a man running. Without hesitation, Doyle ran out of the building and chased down the assassin. However, when the two ran onto the train platform, Pierre Nicoli was able to board the train.
Doyle could not.
To get to the next stop before the assassin could escape, Doyle ran under the train overpass to use someone's car. One cream-colored car swerved out of the way when Doyle waved his arms above his head and stood in front of the car.
He attempted another time. The next car, a brown, 1970s passenger car headed in the opposite direction of the train stopped for him.
"I need your car," Doyle said. The man stepped out and asked when he would get it back. Doyle sped away with a U-turn, smoke furling out from under the tires.
Doyle followed the train under the overpass for several miles. Doyle honked and slammed on his breaks multiple times. Despite his cautious efforts, he was side-swiped on the right side of his vehicle but a white car that was crossing an intersection.
Doyle didn't stop.
His eyes loomed out the windshield and watched the train. With his eyes distracted, a woman with a baby stroller walked in front of his speeding vehicle. She turned her head towards him. Eyes wide, she screamed.
Tires screeched as Doyle served to avoid her.
Meanwhile, Nicoli caught the eye of police officer Sonny Grosso. Nicoli moved from each train car until he reached that closest to the conductor. Witness Stephanie Lawrence gave fairly good accuracy in recounting the events on the train and said that Nicoli was banging loudly on the door.
"At first I thought he was a friend of the conductors," Lawrence said. "But then he started banging loudly on the door. It was obvious he wasn't going to leave until he got in."
Once the train passed its stop, Lawrence said she knew something was wrong. Train officials in black uniforms with small American flags sewed on walked towards the conductor's pit. Other passengers followed.
"That's when I stood up," Lawrence said. "The assassin came out and that's when I saw a gun. He aimed it at the first officer but it was pointed towards all of us."
Finally, Doyle arrived at where the train was supposed to stop next, so he sped up to beat it. He ran to the platform, but the train didn't stop.
The assassin hijacked the train.
Doyle got back into his car and followed the train.
Earlier in the day, James "Popeye" Doyle was taking a solemn walk. His eyes were focused on the ground. He came upon a woman pushing around a baby carriage when there were about 5 gun shots fired his way.
The woman fell down dead instantly.
"Get out of here!" Doyle shouted to women who walked near the dead mother. The baby was shrieking in the carriage. The woman lay still. Doyle was on the ground, under cover by a tree.
On a sunny day, an assassin fired two more shots from a roof top building nearby. Doyle ran alongside the building, trying to see the sniper. He entered the building and ascended to the top, where he found an abandoned weapon and 7 bullet shells.
From a distance, Doyle could see a man running. Without hesitation, Doyle ran out of the building and chased down the assassin. However, when the two ran onto the train platform, Pierre Nicoli was able to board the train.
Doyle could not.
To get to the next stop before the assassin could escape, Doyle ran under the train overpass to use someone's car. One cream-colored car swerved out of the way when Doyle waved his arms above his head and stood in front of the car.
He attempted another time. The next car, a brown, 1970s passenger car headed in the opposite direction of the train stopped for him.
"I need your car," Doyle said. The man stepped out and asked when he would get it back. Doyle sped away with a U-turn, smoke furling out from under the tires.
Doyle followed the train under the overpass for several miles. Doyle honked and slammed on his breaks multiple times. Despite his cautious efforts, he was side-swiped on the right side of his vehicle but a white car that was crossing an intersection.
Doyle didn't stop.
His eyes loomed out the windshield and watched the train. With his eyes distracted, a woman with a baby stroller walked in front of his speeding vehicle. She turned her head towards him. Eyes wide, she screamed.
Tires screeched as Doyle served to avoid her.
Meanwhile, Nicoli caught the eye of police officer Sonny Grosso. Nicoli moved from each train car until he reached that closest to the conductor. Witness Stephanie Lawrence gave fairly good accuracy in recounting the events on the train and said that Nicoli was banging loudly on the door.
"At first I thought he was a friend of the conductors," Lawrence said. "But then he started banging loudly on the door. It was obvious he wasn't going to leave until he got in."
Once the train passed its stop, Lawrence said she knew something was wrong. Train officials in black uniforms with small American flags sewed on walked towards the conductor's pit. Other passengers followed.
"That's when I stood up," Lawrence said. "The assassin came out and that's when I saw a gun. He aimed it at the first officer but it was pointed towards all of us."
Finally, Doyle arrived at where the train was supposed to stop next, so he sped up to beat it. He ran to the platform, but the train didn't stop.
The assassin hijacked the train.
Doyle got back into his car and followed the train.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Information Overload
Okay cool, so I'm getting good at interviewing and researching. I'm asking more questions, and I'm getting more information. There is a downside to all the information.
It's information overload.
So I have all these pages of notes, right? And they're really great. And then I go through, ready to write my article, and I'm all over the place. I write my article and it takes me hours to reorganize my thoughts.
I don't know how the pros at The Boston Globe do it--how they present the information seamlessly. How they make the article interesting, informative, and casual when it needs to be.
I find it very difficult to make sure I include only the important information that the reader needs to know. I find it hard to cut out the stuff that I think is interesting, let alone only include the necessary stuff.
My most recent article is about Palestine and Israel. Marc Ellis came to do a speech on it and then take questions afterwards. I recorded the audio, did my own research, found out stuff about Ellis's background, got reactions from audience members, sent out several emails to leaders of the event and students who were part of it.
And I'm supposed to only put down the stuff the reader needs to know? Hardest part of being a journalist at this moment.
It's information overload.
So I have all these pages of notes, right? And they're really great. And then I go through, ready to write my article, and I'm all over the place. I write my article and it takes me hours to reorganize my thoughts.
I don't know how the pros at The Boston Globe do it--how they present the information seamlessly. How they make the article interesting, informative, and casual when it needs to be.
I find it very difficult to make sure I include only the important information that the reader needs to know. I find it hard to cut out the stuff that I think is interesting, let alone only include the necessary stuff.
My most recent article is about Palestine and Israel. Marc Ellis came to do a speech on it and then take questions afterwards. I recorded the audio, did my own research, found out stuff about Ellis's background, got reactions from audience members, sent out several emails to leaders of the event and students who were part of it.
And I'm supposed to only put down the stuff the reader needs to know? Hardest part of being a journalist at this moment.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Increasing Interviews
When I started writing for TNH, I knew enough to prepare questions ahead of time. Okay, great. I had a formulaic way of asking them. I took notes, paid attention to what they had to say, and got as much as I thought I needed.
When I later went back to my notes to write the story, I found that I had ideas that couldn't be expressed because I didn't have the back up. My quotes were weak. I didn't know what to listen for i the interviews. My questions were basic and not challenging enough. I struggled to write because I struggled to ask.
Now that I've written a few stories, I am getting the hang of it. Whereas my interviews lasted maybe 20 minutes before, I'm moving past an hour now. Some interviews will still hang short because the person really isn't motivated to talk about what I'm asking about. Or they're just concise.
Either way, I'm listening now.
I'm picking up on the better quotes and writing them down with fervor to keep up with the interviewee. I'm calling more people to get interviews so that if one bails, I have a backup. Of course I'm still frustrated with people when they don't show up. I've just learned to compensate better.
As for my interviews, they're going better. I'm asking more improv questions and hearing the good quotes. My interactions with the interviewees are more casual, more fun. I find myself laughing a lot. And in my stories, my subjects are starting to pop. They're telling the story with their personalities and I'm just a narrator.
When I later went back to my notes to write the story, I found that I had ideas that couldn't be expressed because I didn't have the back up. My quotes were weak. I didn't know what to listen for i the interviews. My questions were basic and not challenging enough. I struggled to write because I struggled to ask.
Now that I've written a few stories, I am getting the hang of it. Whereas my interviews lasted maybe 20 minutes before, I'm moving past an hour now. Some interviews will still hang short because the person really isn't motivated to talk about what I'm asking about. Or they're just concise.
Either way, I'm listening now.
I'm picking up on the better quotes and writing them down with fervor to keep up with the interviewee. I'm calling more people to get interviews so that if one bails, I have a backup. Of course I'm still frustrated with people when they don't show up. I've just learned to compensate better.
As for my interviews, they're going better. I'm asking more improv questions and hearing the good quotes. My interactions with the interviewees are more casual, more fun. I find myself laughing a lot. And in my stories, my subjects are starting to pop. They're telling the story with their personalities and I'm just a narrator.
Monday, March 18, 2013
I Have a Dream
"I have a dream," said Martin Luther King Jr. earlier today on Washington. In front of the Lincoln Memorial, an impassioned King delivered a speech on equal rights to an interracial crowd that waited with an expectant silence.
"I have a dream," King said. "That one day this nation will rise up, living out the true meaning of its creed. We hold this truth to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
The crowd watched King with a revered silence. There were whoops and cheers closer to the podium as King delivered ideas and concepts on freedom for blacks previously foreign to this nation.
The Civil Rights Movement has been an open-and-shut case since its start in 1955. Whites have given blacks small degrees of freedom. Today, there are segregated schools and public bathrooms. But blacks want more than an end to physical slavery. They want an end to racist differentiation.
King spoke on a few major themes to emphasize the importance of freedom for all men. His biggest theme is change--now.
"There's no time to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism," he said. There were cheers from the audience. "It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment."
King was met with an interracial audience of whites and blacks alike. Upon moving to his podium, King was among the singing and hopeful crowd. King knew his speech would have a resonating ring within history.
King used different techniques to speak to his audiences. He made sure to incorporate specific names of state within in the nation, like Colorado, California, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania. He spoke, not about abstract concepts, but about physical realities represented in the disjointed nation.
He made sure to mention the more racist states, like Alabama, as examples for the worse-off Negros in that part of the country. There was true pity and concern for his nation in every word he delivered in his 20 minute speech.
King also referred to the changes made throughout U.S. history, and his sorrow for how little the nation has moved forward. He referenced Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.
"But 100 years later," King said, "the Negro still is not free."
King also spoke with great admiration towards the U.S. Constitution, which speaks of unalienable rights between all men created equal. With a heavy sorrow, King noted that America neglected its brothers.
"This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," King said of the Constitution. "Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'"
King highlighted the injustices to blacks. He spoke of Mississippi men, negro children, and the injustice of growing up in a nation that sees people of color as inferior. As a black civil rights activist, King knows first-hand the injustices done to blacks.
He wants a better life for his future brothers and sisters, white and black alike.
King, unlike many the nation he refers to in his heated speech, gives the appearance that he understands how people are created equal.
"Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children," King said, uniting the nation under God.
As King spoke to his listeners, he became inflamed with a passion to change the course of history. When at first he appeared nervous and obligated to speak about the political upheaval and the injustice, by the end of the speech, he wore a new face. One of hope, one of true compassion for a nation he believed needed to change face.
King made it a point to speak of effected generations. It's not just white and black adults that are affected by the injustice, but children, too. When King spoke of his own children's lives being affected, his voice grew softer. His eyes lifted.
"I have a dream," King said. "That my four little children will one day live in a nation where they are not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
King wants freedom. Not just for himself, not just for people of color, but for the entire nation. He wants unison in a country that is divided amongst racial bias.
He left the podium with a tall stature. His booming voice echoed through the microphone as he walked off the stage with the final hopeful cheer, "Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
"I have a dream," King said. "That one day this nation will rise up, living out the true meaning of its creed. We hold this truth to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
The crowd watched King with a revered silence. There were whoops and cheers closer to the podium as King delivered ideas and concepts on freedom for blacks previously foreign to this nation.
The Civil Rights Movement has been an open-and-shut case since its start in 1955. Whites have given blacks small degrees of freedom. Today, there are segregated schools and public bathrooms. But blacks want more than an end to physical slavery. They want an end to racist differentiation.
King spoke on a few major themes to emphasize the importance of freedom for all men. His biggest theme is change--now.
"There's no time to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism," he said. There were cheers from the audience. "It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment."
King was met with an interracial audience of whites and blacks alike. Upon moving to his podium, King was among the singing and hopeful crowd. King knew his speech would have a resonating ring within history.
King used different techniques to speak to his audiences. He made sure to incorporate specific names of state within in the nation, like Colorado, California, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania. He spoke, not about abstract concepts, but about physical realities represented in the disjointed nation.
He made sure to mention the more racist states, like Alabama, as examples for the worse-off Negros in that part of the country. There was true pity and concern for his nation in every word he delivered in his 20 minute speech.
King also referred to the changes made throughout U.S. history, and his sorrow for how little the nation has moved forward. He referenced Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.
"But 100 years later," King said, "the Negro still is not free."
King also spoke with great admiration towards the U.S. Constitution, which speaks of unalienable rights between all men created equal. With a heavy sorrow, King noted that America neglected its brothers.
"This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," King said of the Constitution. "Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'"
King highlighted the injustices to blacks. He spoke of Mississippi men, negro children, and the injustice of growing up in a nation that sees people of color as inferior. As a black civil rights activist, King knows first-hand the injustices done to blacks.
He wants a better life for his future brothers and sisters, white and black alike.
King, unlike many the nation he refers to in his heated speech, gives the appearance that he understands how people are created equal.
"Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children," King said, uniting the nation under God.
As King spoke to his listeners, he became inflamed with a passion to change the course of history. When at first he appeared nervous and obligated to speak about the political upheaval and the injustice, by the end of the speech, he wore a new face. One of hope, one of true compassion for a nation he believed needed to change face.
King made it a point to speak of effected generations. It's not just white and black adults that are affected by the injustice, but children, too. When King spoke of his own children's lives being affected, his voice grew softer. His eyes lifted.
"I have a dream," King said. "That my four little children will one day live in a nation where they are not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
King wants freedom. Not just for himself, not just for people of color, but for the entire nation. He wants unison in a country that is divided amongst racial bias.
He left the podium with a tall stature. His booming voice echoed through the microphone as he walked off the stage with the final hopeful cheer, "Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Monday, March 4, 2013
Saturday detentions meeting [practice]
Summary lead practice for an imaginary school board meeting in Portsmouth, N.H.:
Blood was boiling during the Portsmouth School Board meeting Monday at 7:30 p.m. when someone introduced the idea of Saturday detentions.
Blood was boiling during the Portsmouth School Board meeting Monday at 7:30 p.m. when someone introduced the idea of Saturday detentions.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Best anecdotal story EVAR!
This is a really cool anecdotal lead. Not only is it really serious, but it's gripping.
"The Foxborough woman could tell that her son had been using again. On that November day in 2011, he was hyper and overly affectionate. “Dear mother,” he called her.
So cool! I've seen it done in essays and novels plenty of times, but I can't think of another time when a news article did it so successfully!
The story is by Chelsea Conaboy of The Boston Globe. I'm gunna be keeping an eye out for more of her stuff!
Here's the URL: http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2013/03/02/nasal-spray-gives-families-power-reverse-overdose/gp9mARCC3jZ2NJ7u0aB99M/story.html?camp=newsletter
"The Foxborough woman could tell that her son had been using again. On that November day in 2011, he was hyper and overly affectionate. “Dear mother,” he called her.
She knew that he was at risk of an overdose. The weeks the 21-year-old had gone without heroin, as the family worked to get him into a treatment program, weakened his tolerance for the drug. When she awoke that night to screams, she was ready, as ready as she could be.
Her husband had checked on their son and found that he was not breathing. As he dragged the young man’s limp body from the bed to begin rescue breathing, their daughter dialed 911, and the mother sprayed a heroin antidote called naloxone into each nostril. Then the family waited, as precious moments passed, for a breath or a groan, a sign that the drug was working."
After the anecdotal lead, the article discusses the issue and the solutions that the medical community is finding. My favorite part about this article is that after the issue is explained and all the problems identified, the article goes back to the anecdotal story to finish it.
"The Foxborough mother learned to use naloxone at her first Learn to Cope meeting in summer 2011, days after her son admitted to his parents that he was using heroin. She kept it close by, on top of her refrigerator, until the day they needed it.
When she first administered the drug, her son was not responding."
So cool! I've seen it done in essays and novels plenty of times, but I can't think of another time when a news article did it so successfully!
The story is by Chelsea Conaboy of The Boston Globe. I'm gunna be keeping an eye out for more of her stuff!
Here's the URL: http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2013/03/02/nasal-spray-gives-families-power-reverse-overdose/gp9mARCC3jZ2NJ7u0aB99M/story.html?camp=newsletter
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