Class 19 - Working on our pitches
Today’s session
In today’s session, we’re going to be working on our pitches. Remember that these are going to be submitted for your third mini-assignment.
Sharing publications
First, I am going to ask everyone to post to the Padlet with a link to the publication they have chosen.
Once you have posted, add a comment to your own post on padlet, saying why you chose this publication, and the story you are thinking of pitching.
Sharing Draft Pitches
Next, we’re going to get into small groups to share draft pitches. In breakout groups, I want you to share your draft pitch, by sharing the screen of the draft that you have so far.
The other members of the group will then give feedback. Think of yourselves as editors reading these pitches. Ask yourself:
- What is the story here? (Is the writer pitching an idea or a story?)
- What do you want to know that the writer is not telling you?
- Is the pitch coherent? Can you picture what the final piece will be?
- Is the pitch focussed enough?
Discussion
We’ll discuss a few pitches in the larger group!
From Pitch to Contract
If your pitch is accepted by the editor, the next stage is that it will go to contract.We’ll have a quick look at contracts if we have time today!
Reading for next time
Our next couple of sessions will explore the art of editing. I want you to read Thinking Like Your Editor (Extract 1) for next time, and respond to the online discussion task. This is about books, not articles, but the principles are still relevant.