10 Steps to Writing a Story

1. Find a Topic.                                   Sports, classes, students
-What is your favorite story?
-Who is your audience?
-Why is this story important to you audience?
2. Find an angle-
-What about your topic?
-What is important about your topic?
-Summarize in 3 words: sbuject, verb, object
3. Collect Information-
-Who are the experts for this story?
-What interview questions should i ask?
-What research should be done to complete the story?
4. Conduct the Interview-
-Ask open-ended questions
-Rule of Threes
-Filling the Silence
-Non-Question Question
5. Shoot your reporter Stand-Up.
-Should have good idead what story is about
- Stand-Up should provide information that audience doesn't know
- Use Stand-Up for transition from one location to another
- No first person: I went
- In MIDDLE fo story
6. Organize your sound bytes.
- What quotes should I use?
- How can I organize the quotes to tell a story?
-What are my gold nuggets?
7. Write segues in your story.
- Use words that tie the interviews together
- What other information can I add to the story?
- Can the story stand on its own?
8. Write the beginning and end of your story.
- Write body first
- Best sound bytes for beginning and end
- Paraphrase a sound byte at the beginning
- Leave them with strongest sound byte at end
- Leave them with hope
9. Write the anchor ______________ and ________________ (if necessary).
-
-
-
10. Collect ___________ to add to your story (throughout steps 4-9)
-
-
-

*Steps 4-8 in your story are called the ____________________.