Discussion Question #6: CREATIVITY

Folks—I just did a session down here in FLL on coaching for creativity and it occurred to me that you guys should be thinking about:

When is it OK to think outside the box? Have you done (or are you thinking about) an alternative/ more creative/ out-of-the-box way of doing a story? an out-of-the-box (a-typical/ new) story approach or idea? A headline (Hi, Sergio!) can be hugely creative (example, a while back someone did a story about the invasion of ants in a community and the headline was a scatter shot of words across the top of the page, Ants Ants Ants Ants Ants Ants Ants Ants Ants. 

A turn of phrase/ a way of describing something/ a different/ surprising element in the story can mean the story has creative touch.

Have you done? If yes, please post url. If not, why not? Can you post something hugely creative from your paper, if you don’t have?

Important thinking question (please answer): What do you have to have in order to do something creative?


(Notice the St. Paddy’s Day display. V. creative.)

DEADLINE SATURDAY ...
And—don’t forget to post to story ideas, storytelling, and The Place Where Everybody knows Your Name, Water Cooler.

p.s. See you in Music City!!!!!!

The easiest and probably most acceptable time to be creative is when you’re writing a feature story.  In my case, the time to be creative is somewhat limited because I write news stories.  However, limited might not be the right word.  If anything, I feel I need to be a bit more careful and avoid trying to get too creative or colorful for a story that may not merit it.

I’m working on a story about the housing market.  It may sound blah, but I’ve really gotten into it.  My goal is to make it easy and fun to read.  It’s a challenge because this story meets all of the requirements needed for it to be boring, but I won’t stand for it. 

I believe it’s, for the most part, OK to think outside the box.  Thinking outside the box results in catchy headlines, intriguing ledes and memorable stories.  It pays off to be creative. 

It might sound weird, but thinking like a kid may just be the answer to flooding your head with creative ideas.  I find it that when your brain is detached from the logic and the teachings that have been engraved into our heads throughout the years, then the chances of being creative are endless.

I agree with Martha. Features are the stories that allow the most creativity, and the most common the story is -festivals and other celebrations - the better a creative twist will go along it. Although because those stories are so common, it might be the hardest to come up with something good.
First person approaches are always a good way to turn a regular story into something more creative, but it would depend on the subject and on the editor. Some editors encourage first person approaches while other don’t.  I haven’t had the chance to do first person approaches, not sure why.
I have done creative story writing by trying to show a different angle, trying to be funny, etc, especially in the lede. I like suspense and the surprise element, but unfortunately most editors will change this around if it’s a news story, and I can see why. I had a professor who completely disliked anecdotal or creative ledes and allowed us to only use straight news ledes. It might also irritate readers who don’t have time to waste on fiction and want to get straight to the point. Maybe feature magazines with the purpose of entertain rather than quickly inform are more likely to run articles with that suspense element.

In my short time at The Contra Costa Times copy desk, I have found that you must use caution when writing creative headlines. Sure a lot of stories featury-type stories - if not most - call for creative headlines but it’s hard to distinguish when news or business-type stories need and don’t need creative headlines.

When stories are about deaths or tragedies, I don’t even dare think about a clever headline. When it’s about most other topics, I try to think some up. Even some topics are harder to think of than others.

I edited a story about chocolate companies - American and abroad - were being investigated for illegally fixing chocolate prices. The headline that I suggested for the story ran in the paper:

Chocolate price fixing not so sweet

I figured that sweet and chocolate go hand in hand. I could have gone with something like “Chocolate companies being investigated” but that’s kind of bland and boring.

Another headline that I thought was on the creative side also made the paper:

PG&E;leaves family in dark (Don’t know why the semicolon is showing)

(The story was about the Pacific Gas & Electricity company that kept turning of the power to a family’s house every Friday, I think, for some reason).

Martha Ramirez - 18 March 2008 11:04 PM

My goal is to make it easy and fun to read.  It’s a challenge because this story meets all of the requirements needed for it to be boring, but I won’t stand for it. 

FOLKS—Martha’s comment above is hugely important… Biggest part of creativity, and doing a creative thing, is the motivation to do it —the “I won’t stand for it” stance. It’s kind of a personal call to arms. That motivation can be anything—personal goal, want to get on the front page, want to show (editor/ mom/ etc) you can conquer the challenge at hand, etc. But it must be there—motivation to innovate!

Guys—please post creative stories/ heds/ anything… this is good stuff to learn from… good modeling. Martha—tell us more about how Housing comes out… creatively, I hope!

The most creative story I feel I have written had to have been one I wrote on a softball player dedicating this season to her mother. I know it doesn’t seem creative, but it was tough finding an angle since it was the first time I delve into this (death). It’s not that I didn’t want to do it, I was more afraid to say the wrong thing or ask too personal of a question.

Eventually I found out she wore a bracelet in honor of her mother and ran with that.

Here is the link to the story. I was pleased with it, and was excited that my headline was kept. (A first). Plus the player enjoyed the story. That was my main goal. Osmon driven by maternal bond

A few headlines I had some influence in.

“FSU must weather ‘Canes”
“Chiles’ Austin stuns his competition” His name was Steven Austin and his nickname was “Stone Cold.” I couldn’t resist.
“East Gadsden ‘Jazz’ed by Grice” Her name was Jasmine Grice, and her nickname was Jazz.
“Stephens the center of attention at Taylor” Stephens played the center position for her team.

“Maclay gets middle-school relief” by the Sports Editor

To be creative I feel you need two things. 1. Motivation (like Martha said). 2. A willing editor. You can have all the motivation in the world, but if your editor nixes the idea, well your back at square one.

The easiest way to be creative for me has been to ask one question.

1. “Why am I writing about this player/coach/etc.” Harsh as it sounds it gives you an idea of what the reader might be thinking when they read your story. They are not going to read the same “I work hard at practice” and “I’m a good teammate” story. You need to delve into the story and find the a nugget of information. Then you can run with that. That’s the toughest part because sometimes you never find it and it’s easier to right the “I work hard at practice” and “I’m a good teammate” story.

I agree for the most part with everyone about it being easier to be creative when working with feature stories. It’s fun, and more importantly - safe.

But for me, I believe you should always be thinking that way, no matter what story you’re doing. It’s one thing to think, it’s another thing to write and publish. It never hurts to open your mind up because you never know what’s going to pop out.

This past week there was a story done by our Sunnyvale reporter and it was the sixth most-read story on the San Jose Mercury News Web site on Thursday. I checked it out, and though it’s a news story, it begins with a pretty creative (and funny) lede. The rest of the story reads pretty much inverted pyramid, but I just couldn’t get over the lede. It was one quote, but instantly I was hooked. I can’t really explain it - you have to be familiar with Valley Fair mall and Santana Row in San Jose to really get the intended image, which is why I think the story was probably so popular locally.

Anyway, here’s the link: http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8630379?nclick_check=1.

A Great Out of the Box Story (v. short, v. worth reading) .... Thinking Question (please respond!) ...How did the writer come up with --- obviously, it was a moment of blessed inspiration. Do you see Creativity at work here?

http://tinyurl.com/2mgkh2

Creativity in a story comes from a lot of different aspects.  The headline is a key contributor to making the story catchy and “cool.” But even if the headline is great, the story still has to back it up.  I look for obvious clues in a story to make it appeal to a reader..or a great quote i can start the story with that I can build on.

Like everybody else said, it is easier with a feature story or a softer news story, because the tone isn’t as serious.  I’m still trying to develop my own signature style of writing so that when someone reads my story they know its mine without reading the byline.  I’m just trying to make a story as intriguing as possible when someone first reads it.