Second half of class notes 1/29

First off, here is the homework for next Monday:

• HW for 2/5:
1. Read Ch. 5-7, Do: P.11, 1.13 (brevity), 1.14 (wordiness), 1-5; P.63, 4.1 (AP Style / do in workbooks) Plus, top three takeaways per chapter
2. Read three articles by Lauren Markoe of Religion News Service

                                               i.     http://religionnews.com/author/laurenmarkoe/

                                              ii.     Write and be prepared to ask two questions that you cannot find the answers to online (Like, where did that story idea come from?

We spent the second half of class focusing on our opening night stories. There were several helpful tips I got from the night and here they are:

- When writing leads ask yourself the question "what is the news?" How does this effect the reader? 

- Use the inverted pyramid form of writing where the most important information comes at the beginning of the sentence.

- When you get new information to write a story about, write out the five Ws and rank which is most to least important (this will especially help with lead writing)

- Make sure every sentence has a purpose and is telling something to the reader. If the sentence is meaningless, cut it.

- Always remember your reader and what, in your story, effects him or her. 

- The BIGGEST tip of all is to be as simple and to the point with your writing as possible