Part Three - Constructing Stories

Chapter 8- The Writing Process

• Newsthinking -- good series of columns by Bob Baker, writing coach and deputy metropolitan editor of the Los Angeles Times. Columns from Nuts and Bolts are written for L.A. Times staffers.
• "Pre-writing from three perspectives - excellent column from Newsthinking's Nuts and Bolts about the writing process.
• "Do the Writing Only You Can Do," article by Christopher Scanlan, director of writing at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies.
• John Hewitt's Writer's Resource Center, good links from Hewitt, a technical writer

Chapter 9 - Leads and Nut Graphs

• Writing Effective Leads: Exercises from James Plath, associate professor of English at Illinois Wesleyan University
• Leads: tips from writers of the Providence Journal-Bulletin
• "Anecdotal leads - a cliche"

Chapter 10 - Story Structure

• Tips for organizing stories and other help from the Providence Journal-Bulletin (including endings)
• "What do you do when you can't find the ending?"
• How to break the lead barrier - advice from Arizona Republic Deputy Editor Kristin Gilger
• Putting passion in your writing - advice from San Jose Mercury News writer Patrick May
• Story framing - four vital ingredients, advice from Michael Roberts, training editor, Cincinnati Enquirer
  

Chapter 11 - Storytelling and Feature Techniques

• How to Learn To Tell Stories in Journalism, article by Roy Peter Clark of  The Poynter Institute for Media Studies
• "What does it take to produce a serial narrative," more tips from the Providence Journal-Bulletin
• Feature Pulitzer Prizes (check the Pulitzer site)
• "Angels and Demons," Tom French's 1998 feature Pulitzer Prize 
• "Three Little Words," Roy Peter Clark's serial narrative
• "Break Rules, Seduce Readers" - Free Press advice about narrative writing
• "Spinning the serial narrative" - more Free Press tips
• Poe Museum   (storytelling exercise for workbook).
• National Enquirer (more storytelling ideas for workbook)

Chapter 12 - Public Relations Writing

• The 10 Elements of an Effective Press Release
• Press Release Content Basics
• Press Release Tips for PR People
• The Anatomy of a Press Release
• How to Write and Format a Press Release for E-mail Distribution
• The Ten Commandments for Sending E-mail to the Media
• Writing and Sending Press Releases (tips from Internet InfoScavenger marketing site)
• Corporate Websites Get a 'D' in PR (study by Web usabililty expert Jakob Nielsen on what journalists seek from business sites)

Related organizations

• Public Relations Society of America
• Public Relations Student Society of America
• International Association of Business Communicators
• Internet News Bureau (online press releases)
  

Chapter 13 - Broadcast Writing

• You be the producer - interactive site from CNN to test your news judgment
• Broadcast Newswriting - tips from this book by Mervin Block, considered one of the best broadcast writing coaches.
• "Clearer, stronger writing," By Al Tompkins, broadcast leader at The Poynter Institute
• "The 100 worst groaners," - cliches to avoid from TV writing consultant Abe Rosenberg

• Writing tools, good tips from consultant Abe Rosenberg, including why ages don't belong in stories, how to use sound bites, and more.
• The Future of News, resources- project of RTNDA (Radio and Television News Directors' Association)
• Wired Journalist - an excellent report on how technology affects electronic media plus online training resources from RTNDA
• Training exercises from Wired Journalist (not specifically geared to broadcast media, but still helpful for using the Web.
• Project for Excellence in Journalism - conducts annual study of TV news, good site for trends in broadcast news
• Assignment Editor - a complete guide for coverage of all kinds of news -- created for TV newsrooms but works for all media
• Writing for radio - by Mike Meckler
• Seven habits of highly effective storytellers - (for TV news) from Newslab, a nonprofit site to improve TV news
• National Association of Broadcasters
  

Chapter 14 - Web Writing

Chapter-related sites:

• Jakob Nielsen's columns
• Nielsen's column on writing for the Web
• "28 Seconds," Web special from St. Petersburg Times
• Journal E, an innovative online personal storytelling magazine
• Interviews 50 cents
• Fray, a non-fiction personal storytelling site
• Stanford/Poynter eye track project - summary of how readers use the Web
• CNN
• Tampa Bay Online

Resources

• Microcontent: How to write headlines, page titles and subject lines - by Jakob Nielsen
• Writing Headlines People Will Read
• "Carving out a beat from Cyberspace" - advice from Fort Myers TV journalist Matt Smith
• Telling Stories Online - good article by Jonathan Dube, publisher of Cyberjournalist.net
• Amy Gahran's Web site with links to her articles about writing for the Web. Gahran is an online writing consultant
• "Writing for the Web and Creating Effective Online Content," an interview with Web writing consultant Amy Gahran
• Abbe Don Interactive, a digital storytelling company
• Seven Qualities of Highly Successful Web Writing