Writing workshops, communication consulting and writing services
Screenwriter Nora Ephron long remembered the first day of her high school journalism class.
Ephron’s teacher announced the first assignment: to write the lead for a story to appear in the student newspaper.… Read the full article
“‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.’ The creation of the universe has a 10-word lead!” writes John McIntyre, copy desk chief of the Baltimore Sun.… Read the full article
It’s counterintuitive, but true: The product is never the topic. The program is never the topic. The plan is never the topic.… Read the full article
When I was editor of an executive magazine, I received dozens of press releases every day.
This was back in the day when releases moved on paper, so I read them over the trash can, giving myself just a few seconds from the time I picked the release up off the stack to the time it hit the circular file.… Read the full article
Are you still using the fact pack — cramming who, what, when, where, why and how into the first paragraph of your news release?… Read the full article
Research shows … that nearly half of commuters text and drive … that one in three patients enters the hospital malnourished … and that 66% of women won’t kiss men with moustaches.… Read the full article
Imagine the first few hours in the recovery room following a hysterectomy or … ligament repair. Consider what post-surgical life has been like for some pets undergoing common surgical procedures; intense hours WITHOUT pain medication.
… Read the full articleThe internet coffee pot. Word of the year. The Dust Bowl.
Details like these grab attention and help readers see your big idea.… Read the full article
When I teach the feature-style story structure, communicators nod. It seems reasonable that readers would prefer concrete, creative stories to a hierarchical blurtation of facts.… Read the full article
When PR pros at the U.S. Green Building Council needed to round up resources in their Green Apple Day of Service, they didn’t write stories telling volunteers to get donations.… Read the full article
