Editors and writers proficient at self-editing can make stories shine, shaping good narratives into great ones that are compelling and appealing to read. But how exactly do editors and self-editors work their magic?
In this virtual workshop series, you’ll learn how to sharpen your editing skills by doing. Participants will engage in interactive exercises using recent news stories as examples. The exercises will be guided by instructor Robin Lloyd, who will share strategies honed particularly during her six years as news editor at Scientific American. The workshop will feature five one-hour sessions, each highlighting a different facet of editing stories to best serve the reader:
- Session 1. Editing the Takeaway, News Lead, or Topline
This session will cover how to identify and edit takeaways or summary/news leads, using a few recent stories as examples.
- Session 2. Editing the Story Structure
This session will cover nut grafs and a general outline Lloyd suggests for news features.
- Session 3. Supporting the Takeaway or Topline
This session will cover editing to support the takeaway or news lead of a story.
- Session 4. Trimming the Story
This session will cover how to identify cuts that will serve the story and the reader.
- Session 5. Editing for Story Cohesion
This session will put everything together, covering how to analyze a story as a whole and how to identify all the elements as well as ways to make them work better together.
Whether you’re an editor or a writer, this workshop series will give you the tools for bringing out the best in any moderate-length story and for keeping readers engaged from beginning to end.
Note: These sessions are designed to be interactive and fun, so please come ready to share your thoughts and suggestions. As Robin Lloyd says, there is no “one right way” to edit a given story. Rather, the goal of this workshop series is to discover and discuss solutions as a group.
Instructor: Robin Lloyd is a visiting scholar in New York University’s Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP), a contributing editor at Scientific American, and president of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing. In 2016-2021, she was a faculty member at NYU’s Science, Health & Environmental Reporting program, teaching science news writing. Prior to that, she was news editor at Scientific American for six years. Past writing and editing employers also include CNN, Spectrum and SPACE.com, with freelance work appearing in Nature, The New York Times and Undark, among others. Awards include recognition by the Society for Environmental Journalists in 2020 for investigative work on water and sewer infrastructure repairs using plastic.
Location: This will be a Google Meet event; participants will receive details via email.
Schedule: All five sessions will be held from 9–10 am Pacific Time.
- January 6, 2024: Session 1. Editing the Takeaway, News Lead, or Topline
- January 20, 2024: Session 2. Editing the Story Structure
- February 3, 2024: Session 3. Supporting the Takeaway or Topline
- February 24, 2024: Session 4. Trimming the Story
- March 9, 2024: Session 5. Editing for Story Cohesion
Cost: $20 for the entire 5-session series
Note: To make this workshop accessible to as many of our members as possible, NCSWA is providing a generous subsidy that keeps the cost low.
Registration: Spots are limited to 20, and sign ups are for the entire workshop series to foster camaraderie amongst participants. If you miss a session, please contact Robin Meadows for the handout.
Cancellation policy: Cancellations for the workshop series will be refunded if someone on the waiting list takes the spot.
