So lately I’ve been binge-watching a series of lectures by this college professor on Journalism 101.
Freelancers and businesses take note.
Here are a rapid-fire series of quick bullets from the hard-hitting world of cold-hard journalism. Today’s topic? Writing under a deadline.
The examples may be specific to the newsroom, but if you have two-brain cells (and in business, you really should), you can extrapolate ideas about how to apply the advice to your endeavors.
Also, I talk about finding value in the shitty things that happen to you in life sometimes.
I created my first little Gumroad digital product: My Ultimate Modular Outline. It helps you write tons of copy quickly across multiple channels.
Read on…
18 deadline defeating bullets.
Begin working on your story immediately. As soon as you get your assignment, start scheduling interviews and researching the background information for the story.
If a story falls through, that’s your problem. Have a backup plan and readjust quickly!
Missing a deadline is a non-starter. This slows down the entire process for EVERYONE and costs more than you’d think in time and money.
Batch as many repetitive tasks as you can. Dedicate each batch to a dedicated time block.
Organize your notes immediately after your interviews are completed.
Figure out your who, what, when, where, why, and how.
Hunt down missing information if you story ain’t jiving. Get just enough to make it work in a crunch.
Work from an outline. I highly suggest using my Ultimate Modular Outline, which you can download for whatever you want to give me for it. It has served me well in my research and journal scribbling.
Get the rough draft done ASAP. Your finished draft is your only currency.
Don’t skimp on revisions. I cannot stress this enough. Hence the pressure to get that draft out quickly. Writing is in the editing.
If you know an event is going to occur, right in advance and tweak it later if you need to before publication.
Don’t ponder the lead while you fry your brain staring at a blank screen. Just fucking write.
Starter lead tip: write a simple declarative sentence and then improve on it later. Experiment with different types of lead variations.
Write as you report. Find and use the small pockets of time as you move along in your reporting to begin crafting paragraphs around the data you collect as if it would fit into a finished story. Don’t worry too much about a paragraph maybe not fitting neatly into a story. We can work that out later.
Identify the minimum story. Knock this sucker out as quickly as possible. Identify and prioritize the sources that will give you the most essential elements of your story first. Write to the basic questions. Who, what, when, where, why, how.
Identify your maximum story. What story could you write that would get people talking in coffee shops and over kitchen tables?
Outlines should proceed with all stories, but especially when writing breaking news.
Give yourself a buffer. Set your own deadline. Work expands and contracts to the time you allot a task.
A practical mindset tactic.
Finding value in tragedy and misfortune.
Even the most unfortunate events can turn out to be for the best.
Nearly dying in a car led me down a wild, topsy-turvy journey that more or less ended up with me in front of you now, dear reader.
My point: find the opportunity in all things.
All things that happen to us truly only comprise their essential nature. Whether they are good or bad is our judgment about that.
This applies even to the most heinous, tragic, absurd, frustrating events that befall us.
Here are two relevant quotes to speak to this observation from Zeno, founder of the stoic school of thought.
“Now that I’ve suffered shipwreck, I’m on a good journey”
“You’ve done well, Fortune, driving me thus to philosophy.”
Con amor.
Always be kind.
Memento mori.
Papi
PS.
Pick up the modular template here to help you write a mountain of banger-ass copy and content writing.
PPS.
I’ve some changes coming to this newsletter muy pronto. It’s gonna be good stuff. And don’t forget to follow on me twitter.