To do great writing, read great writing. Here’s some of the great writing I’ve been reading this week:
Sometimes a story is so good, it practically writes itself. Well, that’s not completely true. You still have to put in the work of writing it. But sometimes the situation, event or circumstances you’re called to write about are so incredible – interesting, funny, tragic, uplifting – that just getting the facts down is enough. Do it and you’ll have readers devouring your words and sharing them with all their friends.
That point is exemplified in three stories that made headlines this week:
The boy, the POTUS, the head pat and the photo – The New York Times ran a story and photo yesterday about a young boy touching President Obama’s hair because, ” I want to know if my hair is just like yours.” The boy’s father was leaving a White House job and the family was saying goodbye to the president when the boy popped the question, so a White House staff photographer was on hand to capture the moment. And what a moment. But the story itself is very matter of fact, and not that long – it doesn’t have to be. The impact is there. And Obama’s quote – “Touch it, dude!” – is classic. Props to reporter Jackie Calmes for getting it right.
Facebook IPO under investigation – Various news sources, including Reuters and Business Insider, were all over Facebook’s initial public offering, but didn’t stop reporting the story once shares in the social network started trading. Both news organizations dispatched multiple reporters and editors to look into possible financial reporting irregularities in the weeks and days leading up to the IPO, and into trading snafus that happened on the day itself. Their stories show how important it is for reporters to look beyond the surface of a big story. Yes, there were tons of stories about how much money Mark Zuckerberg was going to make from taking Facebook public, and what other newly minted Facebook millionaires were buying with their riches, how small investors were squeezed out of trading on the first day, and what lessons entrepreneurs and startups can learn from the company’s experience. But really, those angles of the story are pretty simple to come up with. When it seems like there’s more to something than meets the eye, there usually is. Here’s BusinessInsider’s latest, which links back to its past coverage: By the Way, the Facebook IPO Screwup Could be Curtains for NASDAQ. And here’s one from Reuters, again, with links back to all their other stories on the news: Facebook IPO is flashback to dot-com class action.
19 year old entrepreneur lives at AOL for two months before getting caught – You can’t make this stuff up. A 19 year old from Chicago wins a spot in an AOL-funded startup incubator. But when his time and funding run out after two months, he decides to basically camp out at the company’s Palo Alto office. He sleeps on couches off the security guards’ beaten path. He showers at the gym. He eats the free food the office provides employees (sounds a lot like this Natalie Portman movie, with computers). CNET’s Daniel Terdiman captures it all in matter-of-fact prose – because with a story this good, you don’t need embellishments.
Here’s what else I’ve been reading this week:
How to worry like a Jewish mother (Tablet.com) – On the other hand, sometimes a story is nothing but embellishment. Case in point, this little cream puff, a satire of writer guidelines for made-up parenting magazine Fretful Mother (as seen on The Simpsons) that manages to lambaste what has become a very convoluted, and for some writers, painful, process. Marjorie Ingall, a founding staffer of the now-shuttered Sassy, knows of what she writes, which is the basis for all good satire.
Pebble Hunting: Baseball and the F Word (Baseball Prospectus) – While the subject matter is definitely NSFW, the story is (unless your boss is a lip reader). I have my old officemate Andre Mouchard to thank for finding this lighthearted gem on swearing in the majors. With tongue firmly planted in cheek, BP writer Sam Miller analyzes all the different ways, times and reasons why baseball players, managers and even umpires drop the F bomb, using short video clips – with no audio, which is why it’s suitable for work – to illustrate his points. This is another case of a reporter knowing a subject well enough to pick up on a trend, or in this case, create one, and then doing a lot of research to fill in the details. You don’t have to like baseball to appreciate that.
If I started blogging today I would… (Various) – On Wednesday, everyone in the blogathon was invited to write on the same topic, what they’d do differently if they started a blog today. I’ll round up some of the most interesting entries in a post that will run here tomorrow. Meanwhile, here’s an example to whet your appetite, from writer Mikaela D’Eigh, who says she’s do more research before launching: If I started blogging today I would….