Tag: Media

Media writing May – Homework

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Thanks to everyone who attended last night’s first workshop at CHIC Chester [pictured above].

There was some great debate about the use of interviews (see links below) and thought-provoking examples of the issues we face in our writing.

And there was homework to ponder before our next session in June.

So here’s the brief:

Please interview each other with a view to writing a 150-180 word intro (2-3 short paragraphs) to a profile-style feature (similar to the Kabul cab driver).

Think about colour, description and the use of direct speech. Try to find an angle on the story and bring out the human interest.

Deadline: Friday, May 29, 5pm. Please post your work as comments below this post for feedback from the group.

And to help you reflect on interview skills, check out these links to further reading:

BBC Academy: Interview skills

The readers’ editor on… defining the line between what is on and off the record

I look forward to reading your homework over the next weeks and welcoming some of you back for sessions in June and / or July.

If you have comments about last night’s session, please post then below. Thanks. 

May media writing workshop warm-up exercises: Interview skills

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This Thursday evening, then.

It’s the first in the triumvirate of summer writing workshops, taking place 7-9pm at the CHIC co-working hub in Chester.

The topic for the first session is interview skills, followed by one hour of individual tuition.

Bring a piece of work-in-progress writing with you for the second half – a blog post, a feature, a pitch etc.

But, thinking about the first session, I’d like to kick off a discussion about the nature of interviews. To get our thinking caps on, I’d like us all to read the following story and then post our thoughts:

Rhys Ifans gives ‘the interview from hell’ and exposes a journalistic farce

Why do we conduct interviews? What makes them a success? And what should we do if it all goes wrong?

And when you post, please also include a brief introduction about yourself, so we can get to know each other before the workshop and start a dialogue as a group.

Share your comments below and look forward to seeing everyone Thursday 14, 7pm.

Please call or email with any questions.