How to pitch a freelance story: Find connections, have a surprise

Great stories often have a surprise. Something unexpected. A plot twist you didn’t see coming.

Sometimes it’s just as simple as finding lost treasure beneath a bed.

I saw a post on Facebook a few years ago about a local group that had found old films documenting rural life in Virginia in the 1920s and ‘30s and showing the films. A woman literally found this treasure of old films moldering away underneath a bed. I was intrigued.

I thought it would be a great freelance story. So I did some digging to learn more about the background of the group, who made the films, and other details.

In my research I discovered that the filmmaker, James Wharton, graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1920. “Alumni magazine,” I thought.

I pitched the story to the Johns Hopkins alumni magazine’s editor, playing on the connection of the filmmaker to Johns Hopkins University, the uniqueness of the films, and how meaningful they are to people in the Northern Neck region of Virginia and beyond.

I got a contract to write the story. At the time, I was getting my Master’s in Communications from Purdue University, so a little extra money was nice. But the best part was how much fun I had researching and writing the story, titled “Documenting the Northern Neck.”

Use Short Words. Write simple sentences. Make Short Paragraphs. Repeat.

You talk using short words. You use second-person pronouns. You use lots of contractions. You speak in short sentences.

Then you start writing. You think you need to sound smart and intelligent. You think you need to impress people with your fancy words, like you did when you wrote your college papers.

Next thing you know you’ve got 40-word sentences that makes you look very intelligent.

Or do they?

That intelligent word salad you wrote that has all those 20-dollar, four- and five-syllable words? No one knows what you’re telling them.

That “leveraging” of your “utilization” of the English language for the “cascading messaging” you dropped on them drowned them in a waterfall of meaningless words.

Try this instead. Get in, get out and make things plain and simple. Make sure they know the “why” of what you’re telling them. Short words, short sentences, short paragraphs in the active voice.

Prune your writing for vigor. Less is more. Always, less is more.

White space is your friend. Use it. Ok?

Your reaction is predictable when you come to a web page that’s all text.

It’s negative. You’re overwhelmed. I bet you pass it up.

Big blocks of text are barriers to the reader’s experience. That’s stating the obvious, I know. But making white space your friend when you write text isn’t used enough.

I see it over and over again that people write big blocks of text. Then they wonder why nobody reads what they wrote.

Here’s the simple solution. Break things up.

Think about little chunks. Bit-size morsels. A handful. It’s similar to how you eat, right?

However you want to think about it or put it, do us all a favor. Embrace the white space. Declutter.

I’m also hoping it will help you automatically start writing simpler, cleaner copy. Making it less dense and easier to read and understand.

I believe we call that a win-win.

Your audience wants writing that is easy to read. Make it clear. Simple. Painless. Effortless.

One thing matters the most to your audience. They want to read what you write just once and “get it.”

They don’t want to read something twice to understand it. Especially three or four times.

They don’t want their eyes to glaze over.

Don’t ever forget that. You may feel like a safe play is to repeat the jargon and clunky wording of your client, especially if you work for governments.

You don’t have to use the words “leverage” or “utilize.” Steer clear of writing “cascading messaging” and “value proposition” and “lean in.”

Don’t do it. It’s annoying and unnecessary.

There’s a reason governments are on “plain language” kicks.

The Atlantic magazine even had a March Madness-style playoff of worst corporate buzzwords. Funny stuff … in a sad sort of way.

Don’t try and sound intelligent when you write because chances are you will lose your audience with big words and lots of commas. There’s a reason you like reading “Good Night Moon” or “The Cat in the Hat” to your kids.

You want to help people. You want to make things easy for them.

Short words. Short sentences. Short paragraphs. White space.

Repeat that formula.

5 quick tips on how to write a press release

I have 30 years of press release experience. Most of that was as a newspaper reporter reading them so I know good from bad.

The last eight years I’ve spent as a strategic communications pro writing press releases for clients. Here’s what I know to be true about writing a press release.

These are easy five easy tips to follow and will help you write a high-quality press release that your target audience will read.

1) Make news — Tell me quickly why I should care about your product. How does it help me? How does it help my company?

2) Make it short — Think short and to the point. It’s like getting your coffee in the drive-thru. You want it fast and hassle-free. Quickly give the who, what, why, where, when and how of something. The why is huge, as in why it’s important, why it matters, why you should care. Reporters don’t want to wade through a bunch of words to figure it out. It drove me nuts when I was a reporter. Five-word sentences are totally legit.

3) Make a catchy headline — People do a quick scan to see if they want to read it. Take what Microsoft says in its style guide to heart: “We’re to the point. We write for scanning first, reading second. We make it simple above all.” Make it short and catchy. Make a headline that will make me care.

4) Make a link — Write a blog post with more details about your product and put it on your website. Include a 15-second video and professional photos. Link to it in your press release so the journalist can get more information if that’s what they want.

5) Make a good quote — Don’t say blah, blah, blah that no one ever says in conversation. Tell me something amazing about your product and why it’s so valuable. Give me the WHY! In words I understand, please.

Need some help writing and editing your press release?

I’m at jmatthewsabo | at | gmail.com