A Daily Coaching Workout

(Or: 30 ways to improve writing at your paper without spending a fortune)

By Don Gibb

1. Coaching doesn't have to take a lot of time. Sixty seconds may be enough to make or reinforce an important point. "That was a great quote you used in the budget story. Summed up the story in one effective line." Don't allow a day to go by without talking to at least one reporter about specifies in her story.
2. Think of coaching over the long term. You're not going to change things overnight. You're trying to improve reporters' work over time by highlighting their strong and weak points. 
3. Begin by coaching your most receptive writer. The less structured, the better. It shouldn't be perceived as a management strategy to monitor quantity and quality.
4. Be sure reporters can't set their watches by you. In other words, don't structure coaching between 1 p.m. and 1:20 p.m. every second Tuesday. But do hit the newsroom regularly. "Hey Wayne, I heard you're working on a good piece." Talk about it. Ask questions. If you raise a question the reporter can't answer in this informal conversation, he'll no doubt find the answer.
5. Editors fix. Coaches build -- one comment at a time.
6. Coaching is conversation away from the pressures of deadline and last-minute fixing.
7. Coaching puts rank aside during conversation. It's important to develop trust and respect.
8. Avoid contradictory advice from coaches and editors.
9. Encourage editors to remove derogatory terms from their vocabulary to describe reporters and/or their copy.
10. You don't have to be a coach par excellence. You know good stuff when you see it; you know problems, too. Share good writing and editing articles with your writers.
11. If coaching takes more time, something else has to go. When you make it a priority, other things must be delayed, delegated or deleted. You have other priorities -- make coaching one of them.
12. Allay reporter insecurities and fears. Better reporting and better writing is important for the quality of the newspapers we produce. We can learn by studying the work of respected writers and by learning to critique our own work. Try to assure them that coaching encourages better writing and better editing.
13. Expect some resistance. Little interest has been taken in what reporters do before their copy gets to the desk. In the eyes of reporters, design and graphics have diminished the importance of the printed word. Coaching, talking about writing, and sending reporters to writing workshops will show them that you consider content a priority. 
14. Reinforce good work (story-telling, leads, transitions) with a note to the reporter. Not a general bulletin board note, but a note to the reporter spelling out clearly what you liked about her handling of a story.
15. Talk to reporters before they go on assignment. Make the story clearer and more precise on story skeds. Talking in advance can give the reporter a sharper focus on the story and a better idea of people they should interview.
16. Interview reporters after they return from stories. It really should just be a conversation. Simply ask questions: How did it go? What's the story about? Reporters generally like to talk about their stories to gauge interest before they begin writing. Few editors have the time (or inclination) to listen once the production mentality takes over.
17. Care about the story. Show enthusiasm. Lack of interest can dull a reporter's interest in her own story.
18. Ask reporters to tell you in 30 words or less what the story is about and what it means to readers. You may want to have them file a note in advance of every story telling the desk just that: What's the story? What's its impact on readers? Estimated length?
19. Don't look over reporters' shoulders while they work or snoop in their computer files. The time to coach is before the reporter begins the assignment and after the information is gathered. During the actual writing process, be there... but wait for the occasion when the reporter says she's got a good copy to review. Don't hover around and don't try to create miracles in a single story.
20. Don't force your ideas or your style on reporters. The key to good coaching is enhancing the reporters' styles and building their initiative -- forcing them to think more before they touch the keyboard. Ask questions: What point are you trying to make for readers here? What's most important for readers to understand this story? Dave Kaminski, managing editor of The Repository in Canton, Ohio, says coaching is a series of conversations between a writer and her assignment editor.
21. Listen. If you think the angle should be one thing and the reporter thinks not, hear him out. He covered the story. There may be a good reason for not focusing on what you think is the story. Listen, discuss. If you still think your approach is the right one, make your explanation clear. Bounce both ideas off a neutral third party if you wish. Remember, too, that not every discussion is going to end in harmony. But ordering someone to do something isn't the answer.
22. Getting it right is essential. Don't lose sight of accuracy in the rush to coach and improve content.
23. Take the opportunity to read a reporter's material back to her. When she hears it out loud -- a long lead, an awkward quote (heck, stumble over some of it to make the point) -- it may be easier to fix it. The hope is you'll have the reporter on side rather than fighting to save her turgid prose. She will sense that the structure is awkward or conveys a double meaning or doesn't say what she wants it to say. So how can we say it better?
24. Reporters should be encouraged to read their stories from a month ago. Critique sessions may even work better when the story isn't as fresh in the writer's mind. It's much easier to see and admit the shortcomings of a story that wasn't written a day or two ago.
25. Don't just kill or radically alter stories without explanation. Call the reporter, or leave a detailed note explaining why the action was taken. If you're leaving a note, follow up with a conversation at the first chance.
26. Understand reporters' problems: nasty interview subject, complex material, long, boring meetings, deadlines, writer's block, too little space, not enough time, too much information, not enough information.
27. Support and defend reporters. Don't automatically take the side of management or a reader.
28. Start an in-house writing/editing newsletter. There's lots of free material out there to use. Highlight good examples and common mistakes that crop up in your paper. You could have a different theme each edition: leads, how reporters handle quotes, tough interviews, headlines, how to make council stories interesting.
29. Encourage in-house workshops. Recruit your experts: the snappy lead writer to talk about how she does it; the reporter who is the master of the transition; someone who makes the most of his interviews; the best at the fast-breaking news story. Look outside for resourceful people: the local librarian on how to do research; the Internet expert.
30. Build a library of good resource books on writing well. Ask each reporter to read and briefly review a book so that others can have a preview of the content--and may be encouraged to read more about good writing.

Don Gibb has taught journalism at Ryerson School of Journalism for nearly 20 years. Prior to that, he was an editor and reporter at the London Free Press in London, Ont. He is author of the booklet, How to Write the Perfect Lead and appears in a CDNA video with the same title. He can be reached at dgibb@ryerson.ca.