Sergio - 05 February 2008 10:13 PM

--------OAKLAND—Chris Webber has started 819 of 822 games in his NBA career, and he’s not going to begin coming off the bench now.

Interesting point about ledes: If you have an ASTOUNDING FACT (Webber’s killer stat, above), chances are you have the key to a strong lede....

Matt Coop - 06 February 2008 12:48 AM

GLENDALE, Ariz. - And now, the inexplicable sounds of an unfathomable Super Bowl XLII.
Thud.
That was history.
Clank.
That was perfection.
Crash.
Those were the New England Patriots. The unbeaten New England Patriots. The renowned New England Patriots.
Oh, and one more sound.
Clink.

Wow. This is a beaut. Guys—remember in Writing Basics when we were talking about “short is better,” “simple is better, etc.,” and someone said they struggled sometimes with wanting to keep it simple, or go off in a more “creative” direction? I think this bit above is a wonderful example of how simple/ straightforward/ unencumbered/ short/ totally accessible can also be 100 percent creative.

This is beautiful, and worth studying. MattCoop, can you post the url for the full story so we can see how it shakes down in the flesh? thx! ma

I wrote a story today about Ash Wednesday and while reading similar stories on NYTimes.com, I run into this lede that I really like:

New Orleans Faithful Head to Churches

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW ORLEANS (AP)—Just hours after police on horseback rode down Bourbon Street to clear the street of revelers and mark the official end of the Carnival season, thousands prepared to repent on Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday is the start of the 40-day period of Lent that includes Good Friday—when Christians recall Christ’s crucifixion—and ends with the celebration of Easter.

The faithful readied themselves to file into churches across the city for services where many will have their foreheads marked by clergy with ashes to symbolize penance after the raucous Carnival season that culminated on Mardi Gras.

I like the lede because I can see the police officers on horseback trying to send the -probably- drunk and loud Mardi Grass celebrants back to their hotel while street cleaners start coming out to prepare the city for repentance season. Also, the words ‘police,’ ‘revelers,’ ‘thousands’ and ‘repent’ make it very strong.

Maria Chercoles - 07 February 2008 01:33 AM

NEW ORLEANS (AP)—Just hours after police on horseback rode down Bourbon Street to clear the street of revelers and mark the official end of the Carnival season, thousands prepared to repent on Ash Wednesday.

the words ‘police,’ ‘revelers,’ ‘thousands’ and ‘repent’ make it very strong.

Guys—I love Maria’s observation about the “strong words...” i.e., the visuals. Another thing a good lede does is evoke images with visuals. Nice!

Mary Ann - 05 February 2008 07:29 PM

Ana Cubias - 05 February 2008 06:24 PM

Because I have to write a preview of the event so how can I make it more of a feature story if I won’t go to the event????

Any tips?

Tips for “preview” stories… i.e., you won’t be there, you are writing about something that is going to happen, usually from a press release....
-- remember that every competition has people who are striving/trying/proving/ accomplishing/ showing others they can—whatever… it is full of people doing it for some reason.

-- Key is people.

-- Get to the organizer of the event and try to find someone who is particularly interesting (someone’s first competition/ someone who has survived some huge obstacle in the past and is now competing/ someone who is finally living their dream/ someone who wants to win the thing for his dead mother/ someone who just learned to ride a bike last year, etc. etc. etc. etc.

GUYS—Ana did a great job of following the “find the people” advice above! Here is her cool bike story. Notice the PEOPLE (the hula-hos!)
Here is the link http://tinyurl.com/3bxbu4 ... Great Job peopling, Ana!