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The Program Works

This guide provides tips on writing engaging yearbook copy that brings scenes to life, with a focus on informative and interesting storytelling. It covers topics such as observing and interviewing, showing vs. telling, using quotes effectively, and including relevant details.

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The Program Works

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  1. The Program Works Writing

  2. Writing: It brings the scene to life.

  3. Writing Copy • Good yearbook copy tells people what they don’t already know • It shows the life, humor and fun of school • It must be both informative and interesting

  4. The assignment must be clearly defined. • Decide on focus of story assignment in advance with writer • Discuss the topic • Brainstorm possible approaches to the story • Example: Homecoming • Could focus story around building of parade floats • Writer has single topic to focus on • Writer covers float building process by listening, observing and asking questions of participants • Creative and focused coverage of the topic results in a unique and interesting story

  5. Observing is the reporter’s job. • Using his senses and by asking a few questions, the reporter notes • 14 floats, each with four to 10 people working on them • The weekend build had more than 36 hours devoted to it • Ambient noises such as nail guns, hammering and an occasional “ouch” • Tubs of paint, open bags of chips, soda cans abandoned

  6. Interviewing is the reporter’s job. • By interviewing sources involved or in the know, the reporter gets facts and quotes • Which floats took the most time to build and why? • Whose float took the most tissue paper and how much? • What problems did the groups encounter? • How do individuals feel about the work they are doing?

  7. Showing not telling. • Engaging copy brings the event to the readers • Use writing that paints vivid word pictures for the readers • “Telling” isn’t as interesting to the readers as “showing” • Telling usually reveals the writer’s opinions • Showing allows the reader to draw own conclusions

  8. Telling vs. showing. • Telling: Port-o-Potties are smelly places where no one likes to go. There is usually a line of people waiting to use them. They are dark inside and there is a bench with a hole in it. There’s nothing to flush. They are only better than nothing at all. • Showing: The 10 blue monoliths stand at the end of a muddy trail. The stench tells of their presence even before the lines in front point the way. Both anxious and eager, concert-goers squirm as they wait, knowing that the turn of the plastic handle will provide relief, but not in a pleasant way. “I consider not drinking anything before going to a concert,” said sophomore Joan Jackson. “I hate everything about Port-o-Potties. They smell and they never have paper.”

  9. Evaluate the two examples. • What are the words that show the reporter’s opinion in the first one? • What are the sensory words in the second one? • What are the differences between the two?

  10. Building blocks of a strong story. • Quotes – A good quote is something not everyone can say Anyone: “I really enjoyed the school carnival.” It lacks insight and is generic. Specific: “The carnival was great, but I ate so much candy that I got sick in my best friend’s car. I paid for the car to go through the Quicky Wash, but the smell is still there.” This quote tells a story and is something only that person could say.

  11. Quotes: Ask the follow-up questions. • The first thing people say is rarely quotable • Be prepared with “how” and “why” questions • Don’t use quotes to provide fact “I sold 100 light bulbs for band.” is fact

  12. Use the story-telling quote. “Selling light bulbs was hard at first. I must have knocked on every door for two blocks before I figured out a plan. I asked them how long it had been since their front porch light had been changed. When they’d say they couldn’t remember, I offered them a new bulb, just in case.” tells more

  13. Learn to paraphrase. • While it was a great quote, it was too long • Reporters must learn to summarize the story and keep the meaty part of the quote Stan Smith explained how he became the band’s most successful light bulb salesperson. He said he tried the traditional way of knocking on doors before the “light bulb went on” for him. “I must have knocked on every door for two blocks before I figured out a plan,” Smith said. “I asked them how long it had been since their front porch light had been changed. When they’d say they couldn’t remember, I offered them a new bulb, just in case.”

  14. The second building block: details. • Details • Gather details that include statistics and accurate observations • Go beyond the obvious to find the interesting • Details enhance the copy and bring the story to life

  15. Details provide endless story possibilities. • In sports and activities • Statistics of teams and individuals, attendance at games and performances, practice hours, miles on a bus, kinds of dance steps, kinds and numbers of instruments, expenditures for equipment, buses • In academics • Enrollment in classes, study spots during exam week, number of words used in writing assignments, number of pounds an average backpack weighs by grade, programs used on lab computers, comparative statistics for student-teacher ratios, numbers of math problems solved per week in specific courses and equipment numbers (from dry erase boards to computers and printers)

  16. Details flesh out the story. • In lifestyle stories (student life and people section) • iPod ownership, number of iPod songs, kinds of shoe styles or hairstyles on a specific day, food consumption, food prices, food items on a plate or in a bag lunch, number of slogans on t-shirts, colors/models of cars in parking lots, buttons on clothes as well as who had the most bracelets, most earrings, most nose rings and most tattoos in a classroom or at an event • Keep your eyes open for any bizarre or novel trends in your community

  17. Quotes, detail and transition make for great stories. • Transitions • Effective writing uses transitions to connect ideas • Transitions can be created by repeating pronouns and key words and by using linking words • Pronouns • Pull the reader through the passage by starting each sentence with a repeated pronoun • He walked the walk. He talked the talk. He made everyone believe he was a cowboy. • Key words • Repetition of a key word emphasizes as well as moves the reader through the passage. • It was hot. Hot enough to fry the proverbial egg. Hot enough to melt ice cream before you could get it to your mouth. Hot enough to make a coach call off football practice. • That’s how hot it was Aug. 15, the first day of summer practice.

  18. Quotes, detail and transition make for great stories. • Key words • Repetition of a key word emphasizes as well as moves the reader through the passage. • It was hot. Hot enough to fry the proverbial egg. Hot enough to melt ice cream before you could get it to your mouth. Hot enough to make a coach call off football practice. • That’s how hot it was Aug. 15, the first day of summer practice.

  19. Linking words. • Use contrast, addition, cause and effect or a time element to move the reader through the sentence • Contrast: Although… • Addition: In addition to… • Cause and effect: As a result of… • Time element: After the… • Simple phrase • Short introductory phrases can be used to connect related sentences • In home games, wide receiver Todd Pearson led the team… • In away games, he crossed the goal line… • In state competition, the junior star set two new records…

  20. Coaching reveals the golden nuggets. • In a coaching conversation with a yearbook staff member • Ask helpful questions that help flush out and focus the story • Determine if enough information has been gathered or where more is needed • The goal of coaching is to give the writer or editor directed control of the story, tightening and focusing the story content to minimize the number of rewrites • As a result of good coaching, the reporter narrows down the information to the most interesting, golden nuggets

  21. A sample coaching session. • Editor: So you went to the float building this weekend? What surprised you? • Writer: I couldn’t believe how complicated some of the floats were. One float was put together by the Home Ec and the Mechanical Engineers Club. The result was a float with moving parts, lights and sound. They also created the coolest costumes for the people riding on the float. And everything was made by the club members. • Editor: Really. So how’d they pull it off. • Writer: The ME Club started working on the float a month ago. They had cars that ran on a track and a bridge that went up and down over a river. The river was made of foil streamers blown by a fan underneath. The riders were dressed up in NASCAR-like outfits. A big race car was formed out of crepe paper. They really made the homecoming theme “Going somewhere fast” work for them.

  22. A sample coaching session. • Editor: Did you get any good quotes? • Writer: I think so. Harold Remsfeld talked about how hard it was to get the bridge to line up. They missed the calculation by a couple of inches. Harold told me, “ You know what happens when a bridge doesn’t match up? You get a lot of race cars in the river. We finally got some industrial-sized rubber bands and ran them on hooks on the flooring to pull the left side in place. Barbara Merkle thought someone was getting fresh with her when one rubber band broke and popped her on the rear end. We all laughed so hard we nearly cried.” • Editor: That’s a great quote. You know to paraphrase all but the last part, right?

  23. A sample coaching session. • Writer: Oh yeah. I’ll just summarize the part about the bridge not matching up. I’ll quote the part about the rubber band and Barbara. • Editor: Do you have at least two other anecdotes? • Writer: Yes, and quotes to go with each of them. • Editor: Look forward to seeing your first draft tomorrow then.

  24. Collecting and organizing the information. • Credibility is essential — of reporters and of information • Credibility is gained through • Careful preparation for interviews, including getting background information • Content that includes quotes from multiple sources • Content that reflects the facts, multiple angles & colorful descriptions • Avoid overuse of the same people throughout the book • Create a list of students as they are quoted and check to make sure they aren’t used in numerous stories

  25. A story is only as good as the information you gather. • Guidelines to assist in gathering useful, substantive and colorful data • Be interested • Don’t ask yes or no questions • Look for good quotes • Find out the details • Get the stories — not just the names of the people involved

  26. What is a lead? • A lead is an introduction and window into the story. It grabs the readers and draws them in. It’s the “Wow, I didn’t know that” aspect of the story • Leads should be 25 – 40 words in length • A transitional paragraph called a “nut graph” follows the lead, telling reader what the story is about and provides transition into the rest of the story

  27. Types of leads. • Anecdote - uses one incident to represent a bigger picture The three cars raced side by side as they whizzed around the curve and into the straightaway. The blue one edged in front before its driver realized that a disaster lay ahead. The drawbridge was coming up. He would plunge into the river below. “I’ve got to remember about that darn bridge during the parade,” said Phillip Stone, senior and president of the Mechanical Engineers Club. “If we don’t, the empty track is going to look pretty silly.” More than 3,000 student hours were put into the homecoming parade. Each of the 14 floats had a story to tell. The anecdote Nut graph

  28. Types of leads. • Contrast — uses extremes — big with little, age with youth, rich with poor. It took 3,600 hours to make it happen and only 30 minutes for it to be over. “It kind of reminds me of Christmas morning,” said Lisa Gowens, a sophomore who helped build the Pep Club float. “It’s all excitement and joy and then it’s over, nothing left but the wrapping paper and boxes.”

  29. Types of leads. • Parody - uses a well-known quote or phrase to entice the reader It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Two clubs combined to create a float that zoomed and careened and won first place as class-made cars flew around a track bustling with girls in custom costumes. Another club found disaster when its float literally melted when one of the members turned a hose on the float.

  30. Types of leads. • Startling statement — consists of a single statement meant to surprise the reader. The winner was a loser. That’s what Stephanie Smith learned when she found out accepting Ms. Teen Oklahoma would mean that she wouldn’t be able to graduate with her classmates.

  31. Types of leads. • Single word — a rare lead but sometimes one that works well Cheaters. The entire AP English class was accused of cheating when each member scored a five on the AP test.

  32. Types of leads. • Description — describes a person, place or event to pull the reader into the scene Telephone poles at major intersections bear the battered remains — bent nails, chunks of corrugated plastic signs and slivers of homemade posters. A sign in the media promising “$50 to $75 an hour to use your home computer” wears a spray-painted spiral that obliterates most of the phone number, rendering the value of its illegal advertising nonexistent. It’s a symbol of a student group sworn to reduce or do away with what its leader calls “street spam.”

  33. Endings are important too. • Endings are often overlooked as a powerful story element • Endings should not be a “conclusion” • Conclusions are editorial, telling reader what to think • Proper endings allow the reader to draw own conclusions • Could end a story with a quote — a source’s opinion rather than writer’s • Could end a story with a reference to the lead idea, providing closure

  34. Endings shouldn’t be conclusions. Once homecoming was over, it was time for all the students to get back to the real world. Everyone who worked on the floats enjoyed themselves, and those that watched the parade were astounded by all the hard work. This example tells the reader what to think and is full of the writer’s opinion.

  35. Endings should provide closure. • Ways to end Quote ending: Sophomore Eddy Long barely finished working on the Spanish Club float before she announced that she couldn’t wait ’til next year’s float building. “I don’t care how tired I was,” Long said. “I made friends and the float I worked on won third place. No one can take that away from me.

  36. Endings should provide closure. • Another way to end a story is The Wall Street Journal formula that takes the reader back to the lead for closure The lead: The three cars raced side by side as they whizzed around the curve and into the straightaway. The blue one edged in front before its driver realized that a disaster lay ahead. The close: All the work and effort paid off for the Home Ec and ME clubs as they took first place at Friday night’s parade. And Stone was proud to say that no car ended up in the river. “Practice did make perfect,” he said. “We got to where we knew when to accelerate and when to slow down but still leave people guessing whether the cars were going to crash into the river.”

  37. Journalism has its own rules. • Journalism follows the Associated Press rules of grammar and style, adhering to brevity and simplicity • Keep paragraphs short, under 40 words • Quotes stand as their own paragraphs • Attribution is almost always “said,” unless describing a speaker’s tone • Use active voice • Use strong verbs and avoid adverbs • Use strong concrete nouns and descriptive adjectives • Use adjectives that describe, not editorialize • Write for rhythm • Don’t be afraid of the period • Yearbook copy is written in the past tense - it’s a history book

  38. Headlines entice and then describe. • Headlines set the tone for the story or subject • Straightforward for serious stories • Lighter and wittier for human-interest stories • The main story on each spread should have both a main headline and a sub-headline • The main headline teases the reader into the story • The secondary headline summarizes the essence of the story

  39. Attributes of the main head. • The main headline: • Often contains a clever twist • Doesn’t have to have a verb • May have a visual-verbal link to the dominant photo • May come from a brainstorming session • Is two to three times larger in type size than the secondary • Often is part of the design of the spread

  40. Attributes of a secondary headline. • The secondary headline: • Summarizes the story’s main theme or essence of the story • Conveys information different from that in the main headline • Is written like a sentence, containing a subject and a verb but no period • Repeats no words or root words or ideas used in the main headline

  41. Headline examples. • For a story on band Main headline possibilities The Music Men Marching Orders Putting the best foot forward Secondary headline possibilities Band takes top honors in state competition Awards come easily for seasoned marching band

  42. Headlines to avoid. • Obvious and overused phrases • Swimmers make a splash • Wrestlers hit the mats • Be clever by being original or by playing off of words that are familiar – Red, white and blew – Black to the future – Valley of the dull – Gloom service

  43. Headlines entice and then describe. • Guidelines for headline writing • Understand what the story is about. Read it carefully • Brainstorm for eye- and ear-catching words • Use action-packed verbs • Use present tense • Intrigue the reader with clever play on words • Emphasize the positive • Use single quotes marks • Replace “and” with a comma unless it doesn’t make sense • Use active voice (subject-verb-object) • Eliminate unnecessary words

  44. Headlines entice and then describe. • Headline no-nos • Repeating words from the main headline to the secondary headline • Using the past tense • Using names of individuals, organizations, teams or the word “student” • Using periods • Using “a,” or “the” • Hyphenating words or phrases at the end of the line • Crossing the page gutter with any type • Using abbreviated words • Splitting verb phrases in a two or more line headline • Splitting a preposition from its object or an adjective from the word it modifies

  45. Captions: Copy everyone reads. • Captions are the most read copy in yearbooks • Captions must be researched as carefully as stories • Interview the people in the photo to learn what was going on • Find out relevant information — what happened before or after the photo was taken and what was the result of the action • Find out factual details that help tell the story • Number of cans of food collected, cost of tickets and dollars raised, pints of blood collected, how many students tried to donate blood • Look for quotable quotes to include • Begin captions with a lead-in, headline or other visual-verbal link

  46. Rules for caption writing. • Captions should begin with interest arousing words • Slogging through the water, junior Byron Smith carries the 10-pound bag of sand to the levy. • Hurt in the last play of the game, senior Ira Starter receives attention from trainers for his broken ankle. • The rainbow signals the end of the 19 days of rain that kept students inside for most of June.

  47. Rules for caption writing. • Captions should be written concisely and include specific information rather than broad general statements. The following examples are continuations of the captions started previously • Smith and 50 other students helped shore up the weakened embankment near the school when the river crested at 15 feet above flood level. • Trainers Stu Watts and Andrea Smith were able to stabilize Starter’s ankle until the ambulance arrived. Starter was out for four games. • Amanda Critton and Sara Stutts lay their towels out by the pool to get some sun as the clouds finally clear.

  48. Captions: Copy everyone reads. • The information following the caption lead-in should follow these principles: • Captions should add to the story told in the copy but not repeat anything elsewhere on the spread • Captions should identify the main subjects in the photo • Explain the action captured in the photo in present tense. Change to past tense for the rest of the caption • Use colorful, descriptive verbs. Avoid “to be” verbs • Captions are complete sentences unless used strictly for identification (such as on student portraits) • Identify people appropriately but don’t over identify • Captions are in third person

  49. Caption design and typography. • Captions need a consistent design • Staff should make decisions regarding typography and design for group pictures and for candid photos • Group picture identifications should be consistent • Identify people by rows, always starting at the same row • Put the group name first, followed by row designation in italics or boldface • Each section needs a typographical lead-in to capture attention. Each section can have its own style • All captions throughout the book should be the same size and font

  50. Caption design and typography. • Caption no-nos: • Don’t write what is obvious • Don’t repeat information that is already in the story • Never make up information • Don’t editorialize • Don’t use the first or second person, unless in a quote • Don’t use abbreviations unless they are widely understood • Never write “gag” captions • Avoid beginning with “a,” “an” or “the” • Avoid “to be” verbs • Do not show words coming from people’s heads or mouths • Do not say that someone does something while someone looks on.

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