"Down with anecdotal ledes!"

I guess that time I wrote a story about a pro cyclist and started out detailing the dinner he was eating (massive amounts of fatty foot to celebrate his off season) would have been a big no-no.

Oh well, my editor and -- I think, based on the emails I received -- the readers seemed to approve. Good thing I don't write for the California Political Times.




That said, sports and political writing are different animals. So much of what we do is feature and color, even when it's a gamer. Anecdotes, when used in moderation and not in cliche form, are fine. Hard news doesn't have that luxury most of the time.

Anecdotal/cutesy lead in a football game advance? OK.
Anecdotal/cutesy lead for a city council meeting? Not so much.

 

I'm always really impressed by a writer who can put a really straight lede on a feature, and then sustain the story for 3,000-4,000 words (you'll often see this in mags like "The New Yorker," which, of course, also uses anecdotal ledes quite often).

I think even more annoying to me than anecdotal ledes on everything is the cutesy headline epidemic. You put a headline that doesn't say anything, then follow with a 10-graph anecdotal lede - and it's splashed on the A1 line, then I start to get a little annoyed.

I've been around writers who just can't write straight openings no matter how hard they try. I know at least one guy who got fired at a big city paper because of it.

 

Well, in that instance, that would be a good thing -- except to this guy.

I actually don't think even he is being as extreme as he says.

I think it's fair to say that an 8-inch football game story doesn't need a three-inch anecdotal lead, and that there might be a little overwriting on that front.

 

Now that's an anecdote that could have used an antidote.

 

Those of you who say a story should clearly state "how it affects me (i.e. the reader) and why it's important" still baffle me. What does that mean, exactly, when it comes to a sports story?

I like good enterprise that is timely and localized when appropriate. I want to know what the latest behind-the-scenes stuff is with the likely Santana trade; I want to know the particulars of Vick's sentence; I want to know why and how the Patriots were able to put away the Steelers relatively easily; I want the latest on which local high school studs are committing to which school, etc. I want to know the scores, game analysis, and to scan the boxscores. I love to read witty, insightful columns.

That to me is what a daily sports section/web page is, and how any of that has anything to do with affecting me or justifying its existence in print or on the Web is beyond me. Good sports coverage is great reading, and I can't think of the last time that any of it had an effect on me.

 

Guess this guy's not a fan of the Wall Street Journal.