Paulette has a background in article writing for both
newspapers and magazines. She has written for the Edinburgh Napier News, the
Edinburgh Reporter and Radio Napier. She has also made contributions to 2019
Edition of the Napier
University’s ‘Surge’
magazine.
She obtains much of her material from interviews with people
from all walks of life often looking for human interest stories.
Fresh angles for stories mainly arise from getting out and
meeting people rather than sitting at home alone trying to think of a new idea.
The starting point of the story has to grab the reader. One
way to do this is to avoid giving away the gist of the story in the headline or
first paragraph. The beginning has to leave the reader wanting more. You may want to start with a quotation, a
question or a fascinating fact.
Good research for material and careful questioning during
interviews is essential; a dictaphone from which accurate notes can be created
and then distilled can help. The interviewee should be made aware that the
interview is being recorded.
The story has to have angle and a structure which will help
breakdown the story into manageable chunks.
The ending will often need to be a recap of the story underlining
the angle or may often make a circular reference back to the statements
contained in the opening paragraph.
Modern magazine articles often need to be bolstered by
relevant photos. Start to obtain these early in the project. Don’t allow a
situation to occur where the story is ready, but the photos are still only a promise
or are no longer obtainable.
Our thanks to Paulette for an interesting talk which
concentrated on magazine articles as opposed to hard current affairs articles
for newspapers.
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The Secretary announced that he had booked the Erskine
Bridge Hotel as the venue for the Annual Dinner.
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Next week:- a) Personal Story. 750 words (An event or period of your life, suitable for a memoir)
b) Open manuscripts
c) Two copies of any story for “Round Robin” member’s adjudication project. Max 2000 words.
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