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Ideas : a magazine’s lifeblood

Ideas : a magazine’s lifeblood. Editorial bootcamp MAGS 2/6/08. 7 Guaranteed Ways to Generate Ideas. 1 / Find the superlative What’s the biggest/smallest/worst/best/ priciest/cheapest/craziest example of the subject you want to explore? What’s first place? What’s last place?

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Ideas : a magazine’s lifeblood

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  1. Ideas: a magazine’s lifeblood Editorial bootcamp MAGS 2/6/08

  2. 7 Guaranteed Ways to Generate Ideas 1 / Find the superlative What’s the biggest/smallest/worst/best/priciest/cheapest/craziest example of the subject you want to explore? What’s first place? What’s last place? Atlanta’s No. 1 for personal bankruptcy Indiana’s No. 1 for soybeans Alana Renaud is the tallest woman in Atlanta

  3. 7 Guaranteed Ways to Generate Ideas 2 / Find a story, not a subject How can you illustrate the topic by telling a moving story with action, characters, dialog? (And we’re not talking anecdotal lede.)

  4. 7 Guaranteed Ways to Generate Ideas 3 / Skip the words, use pictures Photo essays, comics, illustration, all work to convey a story better than writing.

  5. 7 Guaranteed Ways to Generate Ideas 4 / Tell conventional stories unconventionally, unconventional stories conventionally A “revisionist history” was the best way to treat the tired subject of Michael Vick’s fall from grace. A serious business story on the economic impact was the best way to approach a look at Atlanta’s adult entertainment industry.

  6. 7 Guaranteed Ways to Generate Ideas 5 / Write a headline If you can come up with a winning headline that you fall in love with, the story will follow. (A great way to sell ideas to editors who are too lazy to write headlines). • Ripple Effect • There Goes the Neighborhood • Crimes of Fashion

  7. 7 Guaranteed Ways to Generate Ideas 6 / Ask a question If the question is provocative enough, you will be compelled to answer it in your research and reporting—and readers will want to discover the answer. • Do good women prefer bad boys? • Do blondes have more fun? • Why do Georgia’s SAT scores suck?

  8. 7 Guaranteed Ways to Generate Ideas 7 / When all else fails, make a list (and don’t forget the magic power of 7) If you are exploring a broad universe, select a round, logical number. The top 40 songs of all time, the 100 most influential people. If you are exploring a select, specific universe, make your criteria strict and only include discoveries that warrant a spot on the list. The 7 best new spas of 2007, the 17 best day trips, 27 reasons to love your iPhone.

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