Writing CopyUnit 50

Steve Windsor piscesacademic.weebly.com

My career

PLEASE MAKE NOTES• After school while working “gap year” as prep school

teacher had first article published in Angling magazine.• Went to Keele University and University of Georgia in

USA.• Sold two articles to Angling magazine. Worked on

university student magazine (Sports Editor).• Failed to get into Cardiff School of Journalism on MA

course!• Contacted emap and was lucky that they had vacancy.

Was invited to interview.

My career

• Joined Trout Fisherman as “Senior Writer” (1980).

• Was probably first journalist with a degree in emap’s P’boro offices.

• Won writing awards.• Failed to get editor’s job (c.1984).• Became Features Editor under new editor.• Acting editor.• Editor Practical Fishkeeping (1990); Managing

Editor PFK and FKA.

My career

• Associate Publisher.• General Manager.• Managing Director (pets titles).• Left Bauer 2008 after takeover. • 2009 taught at PRC• 2010 taught Business of Magazines to

undergraduates and became Associate Editor (consultant) at Best of British magazine.

Press conferenceHow this works.Round Robin - Introduce yourself.• Closed questions• A closed question can be answered with either a single word or a short phrase. A closed question can be

answered with either 'yes' or 'no'.• Thus 'How old are you?' and 'Where do you live?' are closed questions. • They give you facts. They are easy to answer. They are quick to answer. They keep control of the

conversation with the questioner. As an opening question in a conversation, easy for the other person to answer, and doesn't force them to reveal too much. For testing their understanding (asking yes/no questions). So you want to do this?

• “Important” people may be insulted...• Open questions• An open question is likely to receive a long answer.• They ask the respondent to think and reflect. They will give you opinions and feelings. They hand control of

the conversation to the respondent.• What did you do on you holidays? • To find out more about a person, their wants, needs.• Open questions begin with such as: what, why, how, describe.

This course

• Producing written words, or copy, is fundamentally important to the construction of most print-based products – newspapers, magazines, websites, advertisements and even radio and TV reports. The words must be clear and effective.

• The target audience will influence the way you write – that is the choice of words, the style of the writing, the length of the sentences and the structure of the text.

• Before you write you will usually need to undertake various forms of research and gather additional information. This needs to be stored and presented properly.

• Legal issues

By the end of the course you should be able to gather information by different methods from primary and secondary sources.

Be able to store and manage the information gathered.

Be able to produce copy in styles suitable for different audiences, publications and formats.

Understand the responsibilities and obligations of writers.

Some ground rules• Primary research beats secondary.• The web is not a primary source...• PRIMARY: Interview, observation, press conference, note-taking• SECONDARY: press clippings, other pieces of written work,

electronic sources, books, newspapers, magazines.• Spelling and grammar are not optional: use the spell check, and

find out why there’s a funny wiggly line under your copy.• Not re-reading and subbing copy is unacceptable. Best ways to

do this.• Meeting deadlines is a journalistic skill, not an academic option.• Style is everything.

Style file

• Types of writing.• Newspaper (hard and soft news), magazine,

TV, Radio, Web news.• Features (instructional, personal, investigative,

etc.). • Interviews.• Advertising, advertorials.• Ways of doing features

40 feature writing styles

• A life in the day of….(24 hours with)…/ Diary• My space/room/house/…• My life on a plate…• ?? things you didn’t know about…• Who does ????? think he/she is….• My perfect weekend/Sunday/ day…• The day I nearly died…(or other traumatic occurrence) • Face to face (sister to sister etc)• For and against…• A letter to my younger (older) self…

40 feature writing styles

• Loves and hates/my favourite• Whatever happened to…• A day out with…• What’s in Fred’s kitbag?• Simple Q & A format• Simple file of details – football match• Simple match report• What happened on this day (40 years ago…)• Dr So and So’s surgery – and other “expert” columns.• Reader’s queries answered…

40 feature writing styles

• The A to Z of…• 100 ways to …• A journey from A to B…• Where to….• Lists• Funny old world/ bizarre etc.• TV listings • Recipes• Calendars• Comparisons – best buys, which, on test, ????? of the best..

40 feature writing styles

• ????? made easy• How to…step-by-step, picture strips, “cartoon” strips• Secrets of…• Cheats guide to…• Number crunching…• Ask a question: Is this…..? A winner at last…?• A week in pictures• Good week/bad week…• Seven days in quotations…• What’s on…

Different readerships

• The Sun• The Daily Telegraph• The Mail• Heat• Private Eye• Women’s magazines• Men’s magazines

Task number oneGo tohttp://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/film/3757226/First-reviewbr-The-Inbetweeners-Movie.htmlhttp://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/sftw/3761126/Alex-Zane-reviews-The-Inbetweeners-Movie.htmland read the reviews...Then go tohttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/8708884/The-Inbetweeners-Movie-review.htmlhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/8706612/The-Inbetweeners-Movie-is-hilarious.htmland read those reviews.

The task (20 minutes)

In pairs or on your own:Compare the style of the two reviews noting:• The words and language used.• The length of sentence used.• The level/style of criticism/approval.• Who the reviews are aimed at.• Which do you prefer?