The Writers’ Guide

The Spokesman Writers’ Guide is an introduction and in some ways crash-course in journalism. The Guide is split into three sections: reporting and interviewing; writing; and style. We recommend that new writers read both the reporting and interviewing and writing sections, and keep the style guide as a reference when writing their article as well as doing final edits before sending the story over to their editor.

Initially compiled and written by Graeme D. Blair ’02 with Xan Nowakowski ’01. Special thanks to George Sanderson and the 2000-2001 staff of the Spokesman. Revised 9/01, then restructured and rewritten 2011-2012 by Selena Seay-Reynolds ’13.

Reporting and Interviewing

Following are basic guidelines for being a reporter for the Spokesman, and how to prepare for, conduct, and follow-up on interviews.

 

Writing

Following are basic guidelines for writing an article for the Spokesman from lead to final period.

• Don’t start writing an hour before the deadline. Start writing in the middle of the process; this way, when you think of another piece of information you need, you still have time to track it down.
• Choose your angle. As you’re writing, you should develop an ‘angle’—that is, the part of a story that you want to focus on. This should be what you use for your lead.
• Make an interesting lead (first paragraph.) The lead should grab your reader’s attention, so find the most important pieces of information from the story and include them here. Don’t include too much; you have the whole story to write, so only include the most important or most interesting bits in the lead.
• Get out most of the basic facts in the first one or two paragraphs. Most readers won’t read your whole story, so make sure they get the important information from what they do read. The information in your article should look like an inverted pyramid—the most important at the top down to the least important at the bottom.
• Make a strong concluding paragraph. In case the reader does finish the article, you want to end with a flourish. It’s always a good idea to find a meaningful quote from someone that sums up the article.
• Find relevant and important people to get quotes from. This will make certain that you get the facts right; you shouldn’t be getting most of your information from your friend Joe who isn’t directly involved.
• Get every side of the story. This is vitally important, because if you put too much stress on one angle of the story, people of the opposite opinion will get angry. This doesn’t mean that you won’t ever offend people with your articles, but if you make sure that you present all the facts, they can’t have much of an argument. Include both negative and positive reactions to the subject.
• Don’t be repetitive or include unnecessary information. If you find that you’ve started to repeat information because your story isn’t long enough, you need instead to find more new information.
• Get your facts straight. It’s your job as a writer to make sure that every piece of information in your story is checked. A good rule of thumb is to check each important fact with at least two authorities on the subject.
• Check the spelling of every name. Use the PDS Directory to check the spelling of every name in your piece, even if you think you have it right.
• Don’t use too many unfamiliar words. Use a dictionary or thesaurus to find the most precise word, not the most complicated or fancy one.
• Use short paragraphs and sentences. Each paragraph should contain one piece of information, idea, or quote. A paragraph should never be more than thirty words.
• Always use active verbs. Never use the passive voice in an article.
• Use the past tense at all times. You should always be using “said,” not “says.”
• Show the reader; don’t tell. Never using telling sentences, such as, “He was mad”; rather, explain why you think he was mad.
• Never use clichés. Clichés only detract from what is important in the story.
• Avoid paraphrasing quotes. In most circumstances, type out the quote instead of telling the reader what the person said. This makes your story more believable.
• Always attribute controversial quotes. Always put the blame on someone else for a controversial fact, so that you don’t get into trouble.
• Always, always, always spell check! An un-spell-checked article only signals to the editor that you are careless and increases the chances that an error will be printed under your byline.
• Vary use of verbs, but only in moderation. When a verb such as “felt” or “recalled” would add meaning to a story, use it instead of “said,” but for the most part you should use “said.”Common synonyms for “said”: commented, felt, advised, hoped, believed, added, emphasized, continued, recalled, criticized, told, recollected, remembered, declared, mentioned, stated, expressed, responded, answered, maintained, disclosed, reiterated, recapitulated, announced, complained, muttered, accused, asserted, reacted, demanded, questioned, requested, reminisced, added, allowed, opined.

 

Style Guide

Following are some basic stylistic guidelines for use in all writing for the Spokesman.

1. Referring to People
When referring to a person in an article, the problem arises of what title to use for them, whether to use that throughout the article, etc. Use the following guidelines:
     a. If the person is an adult member of the community, use their job title and full name (i.e. Head of Upper School Carlton Tucker or Parent Bob Braun) when you refer to them for the first time in an article. Subsequently, use their title and last name (i.e. Mr. Tucker). If the adult is an alumnus, refer to them with their full name and graduation year (i.e. J. Robert Hillier ’52.) If the person is not a member of the community (someone you are interviewing that isn’t related to the school) use their full name when you first refer to them and only their last name subsequently. If their job is relevant to the article, include their job title with their full name when referring to them for the first time (i.e. Apiculturist Tony Buzas).
     b. If the person is a student, use their grade and full name (i.e. senior James Pinto) when referring to them for the first time in an article. Subsequently, use their last name only (i.e. Pinto.) There are no exceptions to this rule. Never refer to a student the second or third time as Mr. So-and-so, only use their last name. In the same vein, never refer to an adult with simply their last name.

2. Grade Levels
When writing a student’s grade level in an article, use the written out form (i.e. junior). Grade levels are capitalized when referring to a specific class (i.e. the Juniors), but not when used as a student’s title (i.e. freshman Erich Matthes). Never use roman numerals!

3. Quotations
     a. If you find a glaring grammar error in a quote that you have incorporated in your article, feel free to correct it. Be sure, though, not to alter the meaning of the quote in the process. If you are unsure about whether or not to make an alteration, leave the quote the way it is and the Spokesman editorial staff will alter it.
     b. If a quote is hopelessly lacking in syntax, either paraphrase it or cut it.

4. Comma Usage
When using a series in a sentence, include a comma after each item, including the one before the “and” or “or” (i.e. He said go away, have fun, and thank you.)
     a. Always use a comma with expressions like “they said” and before a direct quotation (i.e. The principal said, “Good Job.”)
     b. Do not use a comma before any other quotation in a sentence (i.e. they had a “great day” at the Fair, according to Mr. Tucker.)

5. Brackets and Parentheses
a. Use brackets to enclose any words or phrases that you have inserted into an otherwise word-for-word quotation, (i.e. Lohr said, “Some have said that [the decision] was inevitable, but that’s not true.”)
     b. When a word is taken out and replaced with another word using brackets, do not include the original word (i.e. do not include “it” in the following sentence: “Some have said that it [the decision] was inevitable…”)
     c. When the end of a sentence is in brackets, the period should be inserted before the last bracket, parenthesis, or quotation mark.
     d. Semicolons and colons go after the brackets, parentheses, or quotation marks.

6. Pronouns
The pronoun “I” should not be used in any articles except in an opinion article or when inside a quote.

7. Contractions
Only use contractions inside quotations. Contractions are not to be used in your own writing.

8. Numbers and Dates
     a. Write out the numbers 1-9. All subsequent numbers are to be left as numerals
     b. Dates should not include “th” or any other suffix. They should be in the form “May 23, 2000.”

9. Lists
a. Always use a comma before the “and” at the end of a list (e.g. “shirts, pants, and socks.”)
     b. When listing complicated items/events, particularly when there are commas within the items, use semicolons in place of commas (e.g. “Ms. Morris, a teacher; Mr. Brown, a baker; and Mrs. Fisher, a lawyer.”)