1. Your Final Project:
Please think globally and explain what you believe you did right and what you did wrong in tackling your project, what you liked about the assignment, and what you didn’t like about how your story turned out. Thinking about the following questions could get you started!
What are three substantive changes that you made to your story as a result of the peer review process and why did you make them? Please provide quotes from your rough drafts and final product to illustrate your points.
If you had more time to work on your story package, what would you continue to work on?
2. Your Writing:
Consider what you learned about the writing process and how you can apply what you learned on the job. Thinking about the following questions could get you started!
What new writing strategies or approaches did you try out? How well did they work for you?
What challenges did you face and how were they similar or different from your previous writing experiences?
What kinds of revisions have you made to your writing process? Your writing style? The way you gather information? Your revision process?
What did you particularly like or find useful about newswriting? What did you dislike?
What have you learned about yourself? Did you have any “Ah, ha!” moments?
3. This Class:
Take a few moments to reflect on the last eight weeks — the Try Its and the peer review process, your assignment drafts and revisions, and our other conversations. Here are some of the learning objectives for this course:
writing with the fewest possible words
using easy-to-understand, plain English
avoiding jargon and uncommon words
crafting short sentences and paragraphs
writing single-sentence summary news leads
using the basic news values to select the most pertinent information for the lead
using active voice
following AP style
perfecting grammar, punctuation and spelling
thinking “backward” from climax to least important detail in order to organize information in inverted pyramid style
using transitions
injecting relevant, colorful quotes into stories
properly punctuating and attributing quotes
conducting fruitful interviews
researching the Internet for authoritative and credible material worthy of a news story
double-checking facts and getting them exactly right
covering and writing about meetings and speeches
choosing appropriate links for stories published online
weaving a story rather than giving a report
using social media to enhance the reader’s experience with your prose
Thinking about the following questions could get you started!
What did you like/dislike about the course?
What would you have liked to have seen done differently — and how would you change it?
What advice do you have about this class for the next group of students?