MAGAZINE PRODUCTION WEEK 3 - Writing Your First Draft

So, you've proposed a magazine, had a first go at designing a front cover, have pitched a suitable article for your magazine giving yourself a word-count and deadline . . . . it's now time to do the most important part of being a writer/journalist - get your bum in the chair and WRITE. Complete this week's post in the following way.

1. Open up a new Blogpost. Call it 'PRINT MEDIA PRODUCTION WEEK 3: WRITING MY FIRST DRAFT.

2. Write your article in MSWord according to your pitch. Aim for your full exact wordcount, although 10% above or below that wordcount is acceptable. Give it a headline, and get your byline in there too.

A few pointers at this early stage . . ..

READ similar articles, they'll give you guidance as to the kind of tone to strike.

READ your own article before sending it to me. Does it flow? Does it have rhythm or is it unwieldly and stilted? Are you getting out of breath reading anything - if so, you need to break that paragraph up into smaller sentences.

Read through it, check it makes sense and e-mail it to nkulkarni@coventrycollege.ac.uk CHECK things like capitalising names, titles. & DO A FULL SPELL CHECK before sending it to me.

3. Screenshot your word document and get it into your blogpost under the heading 'My First Draft'.

4. Create a DRAFT LAYOUT of how the article will appear on the page.

I will be adding comments/criticisms to it for a while before I send it you back for editing - use this time to create a DRAFT LAYOUT for the article on the page just as you did for your front cover. Remember you're going to have to show where the TEXT of your article is going to go, presumably in columns on the page. Have a look at existing magazine layouts for inspiration. Once it's done, screenshot it.

5. Add the heading 'PRODUCTION DIARY WEEK 3' and

(a) tell me what you've done today in terms of writing your first draft - did you have to do some editing already to get it to wordcount? Were you struggling to get it up to your wordcount (or cut it down to your wordcount)? Are you happy with the first draft? What do you want to change with it in the future?

(b) tell me what you've done today in terms of your draft-layout - paste the screenshot into your blogpost and explain why you've chosen to lay it out that way. Are you happy with your layout?

6. Publish your post and start actually laying out your first draft text on an indesign/photoshop page.

Comments

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Level 2 Print Media Production

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