Mimi’s scream was almost primal. “I hate headlines!” rang out louder than OutKast from the back room. And yet, despite such agony, I knew I was winning.
After 14 years at a Texas high school, I spent my first year at Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kan., asking students to polish, refine and redo. I was evil incarnate.
Brainstorm. Any word with “storm” in it must be fairly intense. When you brainstorm for story ideas, dozens of thoughts are going through your mind at once. You may be using your brain, but brainstorming can be a gut-wrenching process. However, there are ways to capitalize on the process to make it more useful. Brainstorming for story ideas is a year-round activity for the yearbook staffs at three high schools where the advisers have tried-and-true methods for helping their students through the process.
The writer, Abby, told me they were like a family — sisters, really. But for some reason, I could not imagine a home with the closet space to accommodate the 32 members of the drill team. And there was another thing — something hard to place, like a melody to a familiar song but with slightly new wording.
Had I heard this story before?
“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.”
Robert Capa’s advice to photographers is just as true for those who create pictures with words instead of cameras. Rich Martin, managing editor of The Roanoke Times, Roanoke, Va., maintains if a story is not good enough, the writer is probably not close enough either. A photographer knows he has to move in close or use special lenses to get a photo that is good enough. But, how does a writer get ready for a close-up?
My mind was firmly entrenched in the third paragraph when my name was called. “Not now,” I whined as I scurried to finish an article in People magazine before having my teeth checked. Of all the days for my dentist to be on schedule! I had just found the ultimate story – an intriguing topic covered from an unusual angle and including a smattering of opinion, as well as multiple methods of reporting the facts.
The old saying is that a good story will write itself. That is a myth. Really good stories, regardless of the topic, are the result of a focused angle, in-depth interviews and a creative writing style. Take a look at the following two examples of a personality profile written about a high school custodian. Although they were both written about the same individual, they were obviously the result of different reporting styles.
It can be called alternative, quick-read or reader-friendly. But the one thing non- traditional copy cannot be called is easy.
It was during our third deadline last year that it became painfully clear to me that if I had to read another boring yearbook story, I was going to – kill myself? No, that would have been too drastic. I was going to take a break and go to the lounge for a snack or two? No, the same boring stories would be on my desk when I returned.
Writing copy – good copy – can be the most burdensome part of producing a yearbook. It often involves laboring for hours over a single caption; tearing through the thesaurus to find the perfect word; struggling to gather effective quotes; never settling for “good enough” if there is something better. Mentally exhausting? Yes! And yet, the essence of excellent yearbook writing can be summed up in one simple word: detail.
