Quotes and writing

[SportsDude]

How do you approach writing your story and inserting quotes. I usually write my lead, transcribe my quotes, then build my story around them. I'm curious as to see how others do it, especially on deadline and especially with gamers.

 

[scribe21]

That's a secret.

JK: I usually write lead, build the meat (non-quotes) and then add quotes. Really it all depends on how much time I have. It really varies. Also, Whether or not I use a tape recorder also is a factor. Different approaches for different people I guess.

 

[shockey]

the lead, for me, is almost always predicated off the best quote. if no quote is worthy, then the situation becomes the lead. the best quote should play well off the lead, imo.

it's sort of like cover or back-page heds often coming off the art.

guess it's a chicken-or-egg deal.

 

[BYH]

I make them all up.

Remember: It takes two to lie: One to write and one to read.

 

[SCEditor]

I always type out all my quotes first, just so when I start writing the story, I know what I'm working with. Like Shockey said, if there's a quote that jumps out and works best with the lead, you already know what you got when you start writing. Plus, it helps to just transcribe everything and not have to go back and forth with a tape recorder.

 

[Bob Loblaw Law Blog]

I write the story and anyplace there's a bad transition or a quote needed, I leave an extra line break. Then I transcribe the quotes when I'm done and insert them wherever necessary. Works like a charm.

 

[Eagleboy]

Depends on the situation. If I'm on deadline, I'll write most of a gamer and then transcribe what I thought were the notable quotes in the story afterward. If it's a Saturday afternoon game and I have time to work, I'll take a while and transcribe most of the interview, if not listen to all of it over again.

 

[SportsDude]

I make them all up.

Remember: It takes two to lie: One to write and one to read.

Well, that approach did get Jayson Blair to the New York Times

 

[dawgpounddiehard]

the lead, for me, is almost always predicated off the best quote. if no quote is worthy, then the situation becomes the lead. the best quote should play well off the lead, imo.

Same here. I think, no matter how strong your lede is, if you can find that one go-to quote tie it in with your lede... you can grab the reader right there.

 

[huntsie]

Usually have a pretty good idea of the framework of the story shortly after the interview...the lead usually emenates from the best quotes and flows from there and the best quotes jump out.
If it's a feature and you have some time, it's best to listen to the whole interview and you can frame the story in your mind.
On deadline, you've probably got a quick frame for the story based on the quotes you've just heard.

 

[Riddick]

For me, it all just seems to come together in my head. Not sure how to describe it all. The best quote usually goes first and it all plays out from there.

 

[blondebomber]

I always type out all my quotes first, just so when I start writing the story, I know what I'm working with. Like Shockey said, if there's a quote that jumps out and works best with the lead, you already know what you got when you start writing. Plus, it helps to just transcribe everything and not have to go back and forth with a tape recorder.

I agree, especially when you're dealing with a pack journalism setting and sometimes quotes sound different live than on a computer screen. Can't tell you the number of times I transcribed a tape and had a quote jump out at me after it didn't seem like a big deal when first said. Or vice versa ... You talk to a guy who seems to say a lot, a real motormouth. Then you transcribe the tape and realize he really didn't say anything of substance.

I think you have to know exactly what tools you're working with before you write the lead.

 

[slipshod]

Unless it's some massive project, I write the lead and insert the best quotes where I think they advance the story as I'm transcribing them. I try to always use quotes that advance the story and not use them just for the sake of using them. I usually know the quotes I want before I transcribe. I just have to find them so I get them right.

 

[Boobie Miles]

I always type out all my quotes first, just so when I start writing the story, I know what I'm working with. Like Shockey said, if there's a quote that jumps out and works best with the lead, you already know what you got when you start writing. Plus, it helps to just transcribe everything and not have to go back and forth with a tape recorder.

I agree, especially when you're dealing with a pack journalism setting and sometimes quotes sound different live than on a computer screen. Can't tell you the number of times I transcribed a tape and had a quote jump out at me after it didn't seem like a big deal when first said. Or vice versa ... You talk to a guy who seems to say a lot, a real motormouth. Then you transcribe the tape and realize he really didn't say anything of substance.

I think you have to know exactly what tools you're working with before you write the lead.

I'm totally with you on both accounts. Often times I'll leave a press conference and think the coach didn't say much but then as I'm writing/transcribing the quotes I find that he said something that fits in perfect. And other times I think I have a lot of good stuff and it just doesn't turn out that way at all.

 

[linotype]

Probably a good idea to use a recorder with a clock/counter on it. Then as you're doing your post-game interviews, scribble down the times and topics -- at 2:30 on the timer Joe Studplayer talks about his winning jumper, at 5:45 he discusses the team's winning streak, etc.

(And if you're leaving the digital recorder at the podium for a newser, bring along a stopwatch and start the recorder and stopwatch at the same time -- that way you can make note of the times of key quotes, then fast-forward to them for easy transcription.)

If you know where you're taking the story, that makes it a ton easier to zip between key quotes and build the story from there -- especially if you work for a paper with several editions and you have to file a bulldog just-the-facts lede, then write it thru with quotes for later editions.

 

[Ike Broflovski]

I've seen many versions of this debate on here. Three observations:

1. Quotes are way overused in sports stories. I have a general rule: No more than one for every four grafs of writing.

2. If you can write it better, and 95 percent of the time you can, say it yourself. Quotes slow the reader down, and the fewer quotes you use, the more the quotes you use will stand out.

3. I almost never base my lead off a quote (you're my hero, Shockey, but we disagree here). If a quote can hammer home a lead, great, but I'm not circling the wagons around a quote. Those kind of leads seem fake, to me.

 

[WildBillyCrazyCat]

One pet peeve of mine is a quote that looks something like this:

"(The player) told his teammates (Saturday after the game) that hitting the (game-winning free throws) was a very rewarding (feeling)."

If you have a quote that needs parentheses to clarify, it's 1) such a poor quote you shouldn't be using it in the first place or 2) an indication you need to write a better transition into the quote.

 

[Montezuma's Revenge]

I've seen many versions of this debate on here. Three observations:

1. Quotes are way overused in sports stories. I have a general rule: No more than one for every four grafs of writing.

2. If you can write it better, and 95 percent of the time you can, say it yourself. Quotes slow the reader down, and the fewer quotes you use, the more the quotes you use will stand out.

3. I almost never base my lead off a quote (you're my hero, Shockey, but we disagree here). If a quote can hammer home a lead, great, but I'm not circling the wagons around a quote. Those kind of leads seem fake, to me.

Wow. I disagree with every rule you cite. I say quotes move along the story, if you know how to set 'em up. I've made a decent career out of knowing how to set up a quote -- and how to use the quotes as a vehicle to advance the story. My gift in this world -- and God, I wish I had a more lucrative one -- is that I can make 50 inches read like 30, 40 read like 20, etc. And knowing how to use quotes is a big part of it.

Yes, quotes slow down the story if you're using five-sentence meanderings about people stepping up, blah, blah, blah. But I think the eyes glaze if you've got graf after graf of a writer masturbating on his keyboard.

 

[SoSueMe]

Transcribe my quotes in order. Then arrange them from most powerful to least. And then I delete the ****ty ones, so I'm not attempted to use just to use them or fill space.

Quotes need to ADD something to the story (i.e. emotion from the athlete or coach), something I, the fan or the reader couldn't feel, say, etc.

I always have a list of potential directions the game/feature/story can go. I'm not saying my story is written beforehand. But I note things I should watch for (i.e. injuries, returns, adversity, playoff standings, etc.)

If something crazy or out of the ordinary happens, there's my lead. I try to look for something personal, quirky etc. in the gamers.

 

[mike311gd]

I always type out all my quotes first, just so when I start writing the story, I know what I'm working with. Like Shockey said, if there's a quote that jumps out and works best with the lead, you already know what you got when you start writing. Plus, it helps to just transcribe everything and not have to go back and forth with a tape recorder.

Agreed. If I'm doing prep reporting, I'll write the box, then the quotes before I tackle the story. That way, there shouldn't be any road-blocks in my way, especially that big, black dude from G.I. Joe.