Bird by Bird

One of my all-time favorite books about writing is Anne LaMott's Bird by Bird.

This isn't about that.

Recently, I found myself describing myself as a "news crow," followed up by a little "CAW!" noise. While it strikes me, in retrospect, that this is the odd behavior I might expect from an eccentric great-aunt, I have to own up to being both eccentric and a great-aunt, and a great aunt to boot.

And I am a news crow. This is a syndrome borne of years of enterprising writing, nurtured by the benign neglect of editors who realized that if left to my own devices I would indeed come back with a story of some sort. Not unlike the crow who is constantly waylaid by sparkly-looking items he sees while flying from one place to another.

Neal White is one of the editors who has made a major contribution to my inner stylebook as a writer. With a bemused grin, he tells other writers that I could go to the grocery store and come back with three story ideas.

I have to admit this is my precise business model as a writer. Okay, it's not that precise.

Alas, I am hopelessly journalistically ADHD, and have learned while taking notes on one story to take other story ideas that come from the same notes and circle-and-star them so I can follow up later.

And there's the standard final handshake line which so often leads to other stories: "Thanks again for talking with me. And if you get any other story ideas, let me know."

But I will say, from personally observing gifted writers I know, the Crow model isn't the only way to go. There's the News Buzzard, for example -- the writer who can smell something rotten in Denmark (thanks Shakespeare) from a long way off, and who will circle around patiently and do the homework until finding the perfect moment to get the goods.

More writing birds to come.

Advertorial Schmadvertorial: Words for Sale

Some people are confused by the word "advertorial." Those who aren't confused may be irritated! But for ad departments at daily newspapers, advertorial can be the best thing since sliced bread that can help keep revenues on an even keel in iffy times.

The word "advertorial" is a blending of the words "editorial" and "advertising." Some bigger papers have advertorial departments that fall within the advertising department. The ad staff develop advertising sections ranging from auto to business to bridal to real estate to holiday themes, but instead of only being filled with ads, they contain advertorial copy.

If this is locally generated, it probably has advertisers featured within it. Sometimes advertorial sections run specials -- Buy a (minimum size, say 1/2-page) ad, get an advertorial piece free! Buy a full-page ad, get an advertorial story AND a picture free!! They don't always guarantee the story and ad will run in the same area, because that can be hard to do, depending on the layout. Also, different placement can maximize the impact.

The copy is usually designed to complement the section's themes. Done right, advertorial looks and reads great and feels like authentic editorial copy, giving the piece tremendous credibility and authority. Done poorly, some publications put out cheesy advertorial copy, or print nearly verbatim the clunky press releases the clients give them.

A great advertorial story is informative, adheres to good writing standards, and is a pleasure to read. It's also often the best bargain an advertiser can get in the paper in terms of exposure.

Ad clients may get authority to look over the advertorial copy ahead of time -- it's pretty common, since it's purely a function of advertising, but generally the newspaper's advertorial staff maintain final control so standards can be adhered to. The best scenario is that the person in charge of advertorial has real paper experience.

At bigger dailies, advertorial writing is often shopped out to freelancers. I was advertorial editor for a daily newspaper and then advertorial director for a small newspaper group about 12 years ago. For the daily, I did much of the advertorial writing myself; at the news group, I had two advertorial writers on staff plus we used freelance.

While advertorial can help keep revenues on an even keel in iffy times, there are whole editorial departments up in arms about advertorial. The biggest concern is that uninformed readers will read it an assume it's regular editorial copy. It does need to be differentiated lest readers get confused and think they can buy regular editorial space, etc. (They get confused anyway, but making the distinction helps.) Frequently the section or each page bears the note "An Advertorial Section of the Blablabla Herald."

In a bigger paper, regular staff writers will not be asked to mess with advertorial, as a general rule. The smaller the newspaper, the more likely regular editorial staff will have to play some part in advertorial.

On occasion, when lines blur, thanks to editorial and advertorial departmental plate tectonics, writers or editors may get caught in the middle and it's not pretty.

Two attitudes seem to prevail in many editorial departments. Writers and editors often either look at advertorial with contempt, or with gratitude that it brings in revenue and that they don't have to mess with it. -- J. Louise Larson http://writingporch.blogspot.com/