UIL Writing

LEGAL ITEMS IN CONTEST ROOM: DICTIONARY, THESAURUS, AP STYLE BOOK/SHEET, HIGHLIGHTERS

AVOID GENERALIZATIONS : MANY, FEW, SOME, A LOT,

NEWS

Prompts:

·  Process of dissecting a prompt

o  2 highlighters

§  fact = one color

§  opinion = 2nd color

o  No highlighters

§  Bracket facts

§  Underline opinions

·  Circle the date the paper is coming out

·  Squiggly underline the future event or something the reader doesn’t know

Leads

·  Don’t start leads with An, A, or The

·  Leads can be 1 sentence paragraph, 2 sentence paragraph, or two 1 sentence paragraphs.

·  Put your future event in 1st sentence of lead

·  Put the “when” after the verb in the 1st sentence

·  1st five words of lead are the SHOWCASE –when is not in the showcase, but right after

·  The whole purpose of a lead is to tell about what the readers don’t know or what is about to happen

·  If what is happening is more than one week after the paper comes out, use the date. If it’s within the week, use the day (ie: Thursday) or “today”. Don’t use both day and date

·  If you read the first sentence of your lead and the verb is in past tense, you aren’t leading with a future event – quick check.

Quote/Transitions

·  Journalists are not cheerleaders – ignore the ‘rah-rah’ quotes

·  Attribution: title name said. “Senior John Brown said.” After that, just last name “Brown said.”

·  If a title is 4 or more words, put it after the name. “James Brown, senior student council president, said.”

·  Be consistent with courtesy titles – best to not use them

·  No opinion – avoid the controversial and/or stupid quotes

·  Offer balanced coverage – but don’t put your opinion in

·  Transition always sets up quote

·  Two to three sentences in a quote – attribution between the 1st and 2nd sentence.

·  Close with a meaningful quote

No, No’s

·  Don’t use Leaguetown or LHS

·  Don’t Start with A, An, The

·  Don’t write a feature lead

·  Don’t Add facts – stick to what’s given

·  Don’t put attribution before the quote

·  Don’t miss News Peg – future event – tell the reader what they don’t know)

·  Don’t omit critical/important information

·  Don’t Stack quotes

·  Don’t forget to use student quotes – make sure to include student voice

·  Don’t editorialize

·  Don’t use 1st/2nd person “our school”. “you”

·  Messy handwriting, poor grammar

·  Misspelling names – check prompt

·  Don’t use long paragraphs

·  Don’t try to use all the info – some is unnecessary.

·  No acronyms for anything that is NOT COMPLETELY common like “SAT” “AP”, “UIL” etc.

Checklist

·  Is the new peg in the first sentence of the lead?

·  Is the story accurate? Are sources fully identified?

·  Are the paragraphs short? 1-3 sentences.

·  Does your story flow? Did you use the T/Q formula?

·  Did you use active voice?

·  Is your story double-spaced and easy to read?

On Contest Day

·  Read entire prompt

·  Mark/Code prompt – date of paper, news peg, important quotes, etc.

·  Find ALL future events – there may be more than one

·  Pay attention to most important people interviewed

·  Mark out unimportant or whiny/dumb quotes

·  Make note of additional information

·  Write your 1-2 sentence lead

·  Compose 2-3 sentence follow-up quote

·  Write 1-3 sentence transition

·  Use a direct quote directly relating to the transition above

·  Another transition

·  Another quote

·  Continue T/Q

·  End with a quote

FEATURE WRITING

·  Tells the reader a story

·  Has a beginning, middle and end – shaped like a circle not triangle

·  Uses quotes liberally

·  Allows the reader to SEE the story through details and quotes

·  Ideally the story is shaped like a circle and the ending quote will bring the reader back to the beginning

LEAD

NUT GRAPH

DIRECT QUOTE

TRANSITION

QUOTE

T

Q

ETC

END WITH QUOTE THAT TIES BACK TO BEGINNING IF POSSIBLE

Leads:

·  Hook the reader and grab their attention: should fit the tone of the story

·  Can be and often is longer than 1 sentence

·  Written in PRESENT tense

·  Not be filled with clichés

·  Must WEAVE the lead from the prompt – can not make up the details.

·  Pick one thing and write about it – don’t focus on generalizations – you will never get there

·  3rd person

o  Narrative: tells a story

o  Descriptive – describes a scene, person, subject

o  Contrast and compare

o  Twist

o  Direct quote – must be used with narrative startling statement (very rarely used)

·  Vary the length of the sentences and/or use sentence fragments or one word sentences.

·  Occasionally can break the “said” rule in feature leads to create an image or mood. Once you hit the nut graph – must be “said” only.

·  Devices

o  Repetition

o  Short punchy sentences or fragments

o  Use dialogue

o  Mixing sentence length to set a rhythm

o  Breaking the rules . . . starting sentences with And

·  The lead should hook the reader with unique details that relate specifically to your story then move to general information used for a story written journalistic style.

Avoid Pitfalls:

·  Do not ask questions in a lead

·  No news or editorial leads

·  Avoid 1st/2nd person

·  Don’t state the obvious

·  Don’t use clichés “110%”, “Gave it her all”

·  Don’t use “Image This”

After Lead – News Peg/Nut Graph

·  Your lead if you were writing news

·  Ties to the lead to the first quote

·  Like a thesis statement in English

·  Should be a smooth transition from lead to news peg

·  Describe things by SHOWING not TELLING

·  Use descriptive verbs

·  Invoke your 5 senses if you were in the story

·  After first reference: refer to students by first name and adults by last name or “so and so’s dad”

Feature Pitfalls:

·  Leaving out news peg

·  Writing in passive voice

·  Don’t name adult by first name

·  Using too many verbs or adjectives

·  Lack of strong quotes

·  Not using TQ formula

·  Story doesn’t flow

·  Don’t put in your opinion – any opinion must be attributed to someone in the story.

Contest Day

·  Read entire prompt

·  Take a moment and remember the best moment or picture that stands out to you and that scenario should be your lead

·  Read and highlight powerful quotes

·  Mark your news peg on the prompt

·  Cross out unnecessary quotes or people

EDITORIALS

·  5-7 paragraph persuasive essay that offers a solution to a problem

·  Introducton – Present the problem or situation

o  Should read like a news lead

·  Take a stance

·  3 Paragraphs of why you support the stance

o  Include evidence of why the points are valid (#’s are good)

·  Opposing viewpoints are rebutted

o  What others propose and why it’s not solid

·  Recap the staff stance

·  Present a logical solution (only if you are against the topic)

Writing Tips

·  If there is a date for the future event – get it in the first paragraph

·  Don’t use I or we – it’s implied that it’s the staff stance.