To do great writing, read great writing. Here’s the great writing I’ve been reading this week:
A Leading Pioneer (The New York Times) – There’s a reason the New York Times is one of the country’s best news organizations. They consistently come up with stories like this one, on Julia Brand-Chase, who 50 years ago defied the Amateur Athletic Union to run in a prestigious road race in Connecticut, paving the way for women to compete as long-distance runners. The story is a matter-of-fact retelling of the event and what it meant. But it has all the elements a great story should have, including a strong lead, great photos and a killer first quote from Brand-Chase: “Finishing that race was a defining moment for me. If I could handle that pressure, I realized I could go ahead and live my life as I wanted. I could do anything.”
Walter Isaacson Talks Steve Jobs, Apple’s Future (HuffingtonPost) – Former Newsweek editor Isaacson talks about writing Jobs’ biography, Steve Jobs, which debuted this week. Jobs was a fascinating storyteller, “I just listened,” Issacson says. Good advice.
The 10 Blog Posts You Should Write NOW (Hubspot) – The advice is geared toward businesses, but don’t let it fool you. Freelancers can easily adapt many of the ideas for their own blogs, including The Big List, The Breaking News Angle and The Unexpected Connection.
Other media news:
StreetFight – Laura Rich, a friend and former colleague at the now-defunct Industry Standard, launched a news site to track the hyperlocal news business last spring. Her first hyperlocal conference this week in New York attracted heavyweights of the industry. For more on who showed up and who said what, check out coverage on their website, including this video of Jeff Jarvis interviewing Foursquare general manager Evan Cohen.
SABEW Freelance Poll – The Society of American Business Editors and Writers is surveying freelance journalists on what they do and how much they make. Results of the anonymous survey will be tallied and presented by the end of 2011 on the SABEW website. Take the survey at this website.
WAE Network – This not-yet-launched social network promises writers the opportunity “to interact with agents and editors like never before!” We’ll see. The first 1,000 people who sign up for the launch get free lifetime access – whatever that means.