Category Archives: Uncategorized

In writing, the magic is in the details.

We’ve talked often about how reporters should work hard to capture storytelling details in their notebooks and infuse them into their stories.  In writing, the magic, not the devil, often is in the details. We were intrigued, then, with how … Continue reading

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Clink. Clank. Sounds of reporting, writing, fill the air.

Imagine you’re in your first weeks at CUNY and you’re assigned to interview the country’s reigning horseshoe champion.  Hey, in New York, where everyone shows up for a “press availability,” it could happen. What do you do in the few … Continue reading

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'Clear Seeing': The art of the lede.

The Write Stuff always is looking for good ledes and how writers put them together.  When Michael Cohen wrote about St. John’s University student Dariana Casado, both a model and a woman boxer aiming for the Olympics, he wanted to … Continue reading

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What's different about blog writing, and what's not.

Space. Time. Shape.  Interactive professor Jeremy Caplan used those three words to explain the differences in how we write for online or for print.  In a follow-up to Trudy Lieberman’s discussion last week, we found Caplan’s descriptions quite useful in … Continue reading

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How to get A-hed in feature writing.

His Wall Street Journal editors call Barry Newman the dean of A-heds, the elegantly crafted feature stories that for years occupied the middle column of Page One. Now ensconced in a box at the bottom of the page, the A-heds … Continue reading

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William Safire, Wordsmith, R.I.P.

William Safire, the Nixon speechwriter turned Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the New York Times, cared deeply about words and the way we use them. It’s fitting, then, that his obituary today paid homage to his longtime column on language as … Continue reading

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National Punctuation Day!:?{-}(–)",;'…!

Rejoice, it’s National Punctuation Day! The brainchild of a former newspaperman turned newsletter writer, Jeff Rubin, the day is dedicated to the correct use of punctuation. Naturally, newspaper columnists and editors hungry for any idea they can turn around quickly … Continue reading

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'Bursts of life': How to use quotes.

Quotes We like the definition of quotes as “bursts of life.” Good quotes brighten up a story, speed it along and draw the reader in. Marcella Veneziale showed how to use a quote right after the nut graf – always … Continue reading

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John Updike, a writer remembered.

The death of one of our great writers, John Updike, sent me on a search for memories. Although best known for his novels and short stories, Updike was an extraordinary observer of real life, whether it was the glories of … Continue reading

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Words to live by.

The occasional newsletter from the Writing Coaches at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. Tim Harper        Room 413 (or hanging out in the newsroom) Tuesday         noon – 5 p.m. Wednesday         10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Thursday         noon – 5 p.m. … Continue reading

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