... the lede; it's about finding it,
Maureen Croteau said earlier this afternoon.
Croteau directs the journalism program at the
University of Connecticut.
She and her husband,
Wayne Worcester, who also teaches journalism at the university, conducted what I can only describe as a tag-team tip dump. The topic was ledes. Here are some highlights:
38 Mary: "The job is not writing the lead, the job is finding the lead -- in your material -- that works for your story."
39 Wayne: "No matter how good you are, you are not better than your material."
40 Mary: Ask one question. "Why do my readers care about this story now?" That's it.
41 Wayne: Read your lead out loud. "One of the writer's greatest tools is the ear." When a reader reads, he hears the words.
42 Mary: "There's no such thing as perfecting the lead. ... You never get the lead perfect. But you get a lead you like."
These are two very compelling teachers.
For more on ledes, check out
"The Lead Lab" over at NewsU.
Coming soon >>> John Sweeney on how newsrooms are changing. The last of the tips. What you can expect tomorrow.
