Story Writing Exercise

The training institute is beyond rigorous, engaging, or substantive. The time and effort required to effectively understand the material has made many of us focus, concentrate, and commit levels of energy that we haven’t seen since college. However, it is exactly this learning by doing approach that makes the institute so provocative for many of us.

Steve Elliot’s exercise on reviewing, dissecting, and editing our draft stories that were based on Dean Callahan’s speech was enlightening to say the least. His approach to covering the good and the bad was hash, yet fair. This particular learning experience has compelled me to better improve my own teaching methodology in the classroom.

It interesting how a simple, or should I say a simply complex, element like a ‘lead’ can make or break your message if not executed correctly. My story had a lead, somewhere in there. I anticipate that with practice we can all begin to fully understand and appreciate the nuance surrounding effective journalism writing.

As I approach my rewrite, I do it with both caution and excitement. I realize that, just like my students, I need to listen and correctly understand the various ‘lead’ models distributed and apply them to my own writing technique.

Eric Gutierrez
Whitney High School
Cerritos, CA