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Topic: looking for a story
| Author | Message |
| osaki522 | Posted – 6/14/2006 9:52:07 PM | show profile aside from hanging out in bars, how can one go out in the daytime and "look for" a story...? |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 6/14/2006 10:14:20 PM | show profile Personally, I don't think hanging out in bars is a particularly good way to find stories. When I did story pitches, I got most of the idea from reading or just in my normal interactions. Maybe others will have better ideas, but I never found much success in going out and looking for stories. |
| belinda | Posted – 6/14/2006 11:31:32 PM | show profile Read. Listen. Observe. All done outside of bars. Bars are Boring. Read classified ads. Read the fine print in the back of sports sections. Read bulletin boards in the coffee shops, libraries and markets. Read the stuff of people's daily lives. Listen to conversations *everywhere.* On the train, on the bus, in the office, in restaurants, on the street. If you get your hair cut somewhere, that's a great place to pick up story ideas. Observe people *everywhere.* Where they go, what they do, where they work, what they wear, how they behave. As you're out with people, talk with them. Where they're from, where they are, where they're going, what they believe. You will learn tons. |
| belinda | Posted – 6/14/2006 11:34:06 PM | show profile Oops! When I wrote "outside of bars," I didn't mean on the sidewalk outside the Dew Drop Inn. I meant away from bars altogether. |
| writesonwater | Posted – 6/15/2006 12:01:34 AM | show profile | email poster I tell everyone I engage in conversation that I'm always looking for story ideas. I drop it in there, and then don't hound. A lot of times a news event will spark more stories. When Hurricane Katrina came, a local church opened its doors to evacuees even though we weren't close to NO. When I was told this, I thought, well, a writer worth her salt would go check it out. I figured I'd sell the pics and stories to the local newspaper. They said they would use them, but wouldn't pay me for them. I declined, undeterred. SOmeone's got to be interested in this, I said. Of course, as a former editor, I knew that when something of such a huge magnitude happens, editors all over are wishing they had someone on the spot. I would be the someone on the spot. I pitched the piece to a denominational mag from that church's denom, then thought -- who else? A fabulous woman was helping organize, so I pitched a Christian woman's mag, then thought -- who else? A nearby town's church was doing the same thing, so I pitched THEIR denomination's mag. I met an evacuee who was a professional woman, successful but displaced. I called the trade pub serving her pub, and they were in. But then I thought a bigger business pub might want it. And they did. And while I was doing the BIG business pub, I ran across some experts I thought they would be interested in -- and they bought three more pieces, and eventually I did some others non-Katrina for them, too. And the nearby major paper needed a piece on an organization serving evacuees, so of course I had to help! Then a related tragedy occurred -- a bus burst into flames, terrible national news. My husband said a local nurse stopped to help. It was on the national news. I called my friends who said they knew her, got her husband's name, looked her up, and got a better interview than anyone else. I sold the story to RN magazine. THere are more stories that came from that one impulse to go check it out. I got clips from eight different pubs, many websites that carried the pieces, and they couldn't have come at a better time -- I was just kicking off my freelance writing career after editing and writing fulltime. Yes, I talked to a few editors who weren't interested. Yes, I talked to people who wanted to pay me peanuts or wanted me to write for free. I didn't bite. THOught I'd share that one to show that a lot of times a story comes out of a trend or an incident. It's all about thinking about an editor -- where is the editor somewhere who could use something I find interesting? |
| fake.it.til.you.make.it | Posted – 6/15/2006 1:23:51 AM | show profile Call up a friend or family member you haven't spoken to in a while and see what comes up. Read lots of articles from different sources. The Internet makes this so much easier. Flip through publications you don't normally read (alt weeklies, teen mags...). Check out craigslist. There are lots of wacky ads there--you never know what you'll come across. Take public transportation and eavesdrop/people watch. Go get your hair cut. Flip through magazines. Listen to people talking to each other. Talk to your barber/hair stylist. Stay up really late one night (I always get the best ideas late at night). Work out or go for a walk in the park. Watch a TV show you don't normally watch (Judge Judy? Jerry Springer? Days of Our Lives? A Spanish telenovela?). Listen to music that speaks to you. I think every person has their own type of music that resonates with them or takes them back to a happy place in life, which can be inspiring. Ask someone. Talk to a non-writer and ask them what they think would be a good idea to write a story about. Sometimes you get good feedback. My husband emailed me an article the other day he thought I'd like or may want to write something on. It was actually a great idea, which I spun and turned into a query. ------ http://writerwannabehack.blogspot.com |
| ItsAMysteryNY | Posted – 6/15/2006 9:48:33 AM | show profile Ask yourself what do you really care about? What interests you the most? It's not just write what you know (or are willing to find out) but also write what you love. |
| osaki522 | Posted – 6/15/2006 4:49:13 PM | show profile | email poster Today was frustrating. I ventured out into one of the neighborhoods in the city, town or parish I work in to "look for" a story. Only a few mediocre ideas occurred to me, but the worst part was I was too shy to go up to random people and be like "hi, do you live in this neighborhood? I work for XXXXX XXXXX, what's going on in this area, I'm looking for something to write about ..." |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 6/15/2006 7:29:05 PM | show profile Here's another idea. See what conferences and conventions are coming to your town and get press credentials. Just ask questions. |
| writesonwater | Posted – 6/16/2006 4:42:14 AM | show profile | email poster Loner, what kind of article have you been asked to write? It's true there are 7 million stories in the naked city, or whatever, but who are you writing for? What does your editor want? Random wanderings, undirected, are more likely to produce fodder for delightful fiction or personal essays of observation, in my experience and there's a place for that. However, if you write for a newspaper and your editor tells you to go get a story, put your finger on the pulse of the community, blablabla ... you might want to start with your beat or a specific event. See what's going on in the calendar, and go to something, and write about that -- a protest? A mom's day out? A spelling bee? Starting with an event is a good place to begin, but believe me, people will be more likely to talk to you in an interview if they feel reassured about you: the paper you work for, what your article will be about -- even if you decide on the spot what to write about as you see a guy flying an experimental aircraft and landing it at the park. This guy built what looks like a cross between a flying go-cart and a lawnmower, looks like a story. If you're freelancing and not sure if someone wants the piece or not (sometimes we're just going on a hunch), say so -- but tell them what papers your stuff HAS been in, that helps. And by the way, hanging out in bars makes for good stories if ... it's for a Memorial Day article or Nov. 11 article and the bar you're in is a veterans of Foreign Wars Post... just a thought. Or if you're writing about drink trends. |
| ideefixe | Posted – 6/16/2006 11:15:49 AM | show profile I recently met the guy who's the LA correspondent for a British newspaper. He told me that part of his journalism training was to mark off a square mile area of a city, and pound the pavement, getting to know the neighborhood, talk to people, learning their concerns, hopes, etc. Not to be harsh, but being shy isn't going to get you anywhere. You don't have to buttonhole people in the washroom, or buy the house a round, but being able to chat with total strangers is a pretty useful skill for a journalist. Do you ride the same bus everyday? My first published piece was about a group of women who'd ridden the same bus everyday for 30 years, and the reitrement party they had for the driver. |
