1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Word limits

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by B.P. Bonpensiero, Jan 9, 2007.

  1. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    You're both right and wrong. Depends on how it's written.
    Chockful O' play-by-play is wrong under all circumstances; quotes, moderate analysis, stats and other things CAN (not always, but CAN) work for a longer story in a situation like that...
     
  2. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    hard and fast rules such as this usually last a coupla months tops. nod your head, abide by the rule for 60 days then start breaking the limit at every opportunity starting with columns.
     
  3. Crimson Tide

    Crimson Tide Member

    The word limit at my shop says you can't intentionally write 'fuck' into every paragraph.

    Oh, anyway, we're just told write as long as we need because wire can always be trimmed, but don't go overboard. In other words, my SE doesn't have a clue.
     
  4. Mystery_Meat

    Mystery_Meat Guest

    I would say this was my first laugh of the thread, but since I'm a 12-year-old emotionally, I was also giggling at the repeated use of the word "hard" and whether a 14-incher fits or not.

    Sophomoric humor aside, I think the best thing about a relatively hard cap is that it forces a lot of writers who would empty the notebook on a volleyball gamer or a water board meeting to actually reflect on whether everything the write needs to be written or not. A good editor, like a good military leader, knows the rules and knows when it's appropriate to abandon them, so as long as you have that and can get the luxury of added space when appropriate, I think it does more good than harm.
     
  5. awriter

    awriter Active Member

    If one writer is emptying the notebook on a volleyball gamer then the editor needs to cut the story and reel in the writer. But good writers know when to stop. They don't need artificial limits.
     
  6. Mystery_Meat

    Mystery_Meat Guest

    I'd say more writers I've encountered need them than not. Not that everyone's emptying the notebook (plenty enough do), but many writers have a cloistered view of what's important as it relates to their stories. Do the principals think fact A and fact Z are both important? Probably. Does that mean both need to go in the story? Probably not. Word limits (whether by edict from on high or just writing to fit) force the reporter to make a choice he or she might not otherwise.

    Writing to fit is something that too few reporters know how to do, and it could hurt them at the higher levels.
     
  7. DyePack

    DyePack New Member

    I hope you're not saying the editor should just cut every story that's too long, and that's enforcing the inch limit.
     
  8. awriter

    awriter Active Member

    I'm not. What I'm saying is if a story deserves 700, 1,700, 2,700 words or whatever, it should get that. Likewise, a story that only warrants 400 shouldn't be stretched to 700. Good writers know when to stop; they don't need artificial caps.
     
  9. DyePack

    DyePack New Member

    I trimmed your post for you.
     
  10. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

  11. Claws for Concern

    Claws for Concern Active Member

    I remember one SE who would always tell us to cut way down, but then he'd let the columnist doodle on for 50 inches about nothing important and never say a word. :mad:
     
  12. Montezuma's Revenge

    Montezuma's Revenge Active Member


    Ah, that's the rub. We tend to make all these rules geared to prop up the lousy writers, which, in turn, hamstrings the good writers.

    I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I read someone on this thread call 16-20 inches "meaty."
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page