writing better yearbook copy

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WHATS YOUR STORY?Being on yearbook, means you get the privileged of recording history for one year- telling the story of your school and the stu-dents who attended during that time period.

But telling each students story can be hard:“What questions should I ask?”“What angle should it use?”“How do I make the copy different from year to year?”

Here is an exercise that might help, start by telling your own story. Have each member of the staff participate, including the advisers. Start on paper, but don’t just list the facts, where you were born, what are your hobbies, what kind of music you listen to . . . tell your story in a way that gets the rest of the staff to understand WHO you are.

You can start your story when you were very young, when you entered high school or anytime in between, but start by explain-ing how you started to get molded into the person you are.

Examples:Did you break your arm when you were in 5th grade and could not play baseball so you joined the choir and now music is your passion. How did that effect all your other choices.

Did your grandfather take you fishing every summer so you developed a love for the outdoors. So now your are in the recycling club and you feel it makes a difference because....

Tell your complete story, how each event in your life caused your next decision.

When you are done, each staff member should share their story with the class - you should be able to talk for at least 5 minutes, so be prepared. Once you start it should actually be hard to keep it to just 5 minutes. Remember this is not just a chronological account of your life, it is “your story” why you are who you are.

Take notes when the other students are speaking - what were some of the key factors that made a difference in their lives? Then when you start to write copy for your yearbook, your angle is not the event your are covering but the people who are at the event. Why they choose to participate, what does the event mean to them now and in the future.

Here are some simple tips in sharing the stories you collect:

COPY RECIPELead - Transition - Quotation - Fact - Transition - Quotation - Fact - Transition - Quotation - Fact - Conclusion

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WRITING COPY

Story should be between 10-15 sentences in length Story should contain at least 3 quotes Easiest way to end a story is by using a strong quote Use present tense for the first sentence and then past tense for the rest of the story Use the 3rd person: he, she, them, they, students, people Keep Sentence Structure Simple - Place subjects close to their verbs. Verbs and pronouns must agree in number with their subject. Avoid Vague Words - Words such as “many,” “a lot,” “several,” “some” or “a few” are weak and don’t really tell your readers anything. Be Specific and Accurate - Good copy includes specific, accurate details. Saying that a team had “a 7-3 season” tells your read-ers more than “Boy’s volleyball had a winning season.” Shorter Paragraphs are More Inviting - Keep most of your paragraphs under 40 words. Readers are more likely to skip over big blocks of text. Keep Your Readers Attention - Make copy boxes easier to read by adding fact boxes, Q & A, bio boxes, timelines, quote col-lections and public opinion polls. Avoid Using the Phrase “This Year” and the Name of Your School - What other year besides the current year is being highlight-ed in the yearbook? What other school is being covered in your yearbook? Your readers already know this.

Write Copy in the Third Person - Keeping copy in the third person maintains objectivity. Avoid using first person pronouns like “I,” “we,” “our,” etc. Do Not Editorialize - Using quotes is a good way to keep your copy objective. Always have three sources in every story along with good quotes. Never make an opinion statement that can not be attributed to a specific source. Correct Capitalization and Spelling - Capitalize all names of persons, cities, schools and mascots. Do not capitalize the names of departments or general subjects such as “physical education.” Capitalize proper nouns such as “English.” For specific class titles such as “Art History,” use capitals; for general titles such as “math” do not capitalize. A person’s title should be capitalized if it precedes his or her name, such as Princi-pal Harold Walker. If the title follows the name, it should not be capitalized: Harold Walker, principal. Don’t forget to run spell check and proofread! Use the Language of Your Readers - Write the way you and your friends talk. If you don’t talk in com-plex sentences seen in term papers, don’t write them. Do remember to avoid slang and to obey basic rules of grammar.

WRITING LEADS FOR YOUR COPYThe lead of your story is your introduction. Written to get your readers’ attention, the lead serves two pur-poses: to draw the readers in and to introduce the topic. Below are seven different types of leads.

To get more information on writing better copy and to see examples, refer to our new Curriculum. Lead examples are on page 110. If you do not have one yet- email me and I can have one sent to you.

LeadsAllusionCompare / ContrastDescriptiveDirect QuotationNarrative HookShocking StatementSuspense / Teaser

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WRITING HEADLINESHeadline should be a short phraseHeadline should relate to the focus of your storyHeadline should be in present tenseSub-Headline should be in past tenseSub-Headline should be a longer phrase than your headlineSub-Headline should further clarify your headline

EDITING COPYYOU are the person who is responsible for editing your copy. While there will be others who will look at it, it’s your name that will go on the page. Take pride in this fact. Don’t state the obvious

No school name, initials or mascot are necessary

No “this year”

Use active voice and ACTION VERBS to avoid wordiness, Make words count!

Verbs utilizing “to be” make sentences boring and wordy

Avoid cliches and overused phrases as well

Don’t abbreviate

Show depth and pay attention to detail

Don’t become monotonous. Edit for conciseness and get rid of padding

Cover all sides and viewpoints

DELETE THE FOLLOWING WORDS/TERMS FROM COPYIndefinite terms (many, a lot)Editorial adjectives (spectacular, disappointing, Editorial adverbs (seemingly, apparently)Future tense (“next year’s team will be…”)Lists (activities, courses)“Under the direction of…”Run-on sentencesPassive voice (A pass was thrown by Tom Smith.)Quotes without substance

writing better yearbook copy

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