Journalists dare to take on the ultimate writing quest

I've worked as a consultant and coach in more than 30 newsrooms. I've lectured to packed crowds at journalism conventions. I've spoken with students at the finest journalism schools in the nation. Along the way, I've been reinvigorated by journalists passionate about making a difference for their readers and their communities.
That's why, when this year's New York Press Association convention drew near, I decided to try something different - even dangerous. I wanted no less than to walk into that conference room knowing I was going to share a piece of advice that would transform writing just by its very mention.

I pictured myself whispering it into a reporter's ear. He'd pause. Then a glint of recognition would appear as he dropped to the ground, overcome with understanding.
"I see it all now," the journalist would exclaim. "It's so clear to me."

We'd call it the Greatest Writing Tip the World Has Ever Seen.

When I shared my vision with friends and colleagues, I could see the doubt in their eyes. But like that first ascent of Everest or the search for the perfect chilidog, it was a quest worth pursuing.

I started by going to the experts. I posted a message on NewsCoach, a listserv hosted by The Poynter Institute that gave me access to the finest newsroom trainers and educators from across the world. Give me your favorite writing tip, I beseeched. Share with me that one gem that has served you when all others failed.
And they responded.

I collected nearly 50 e-mail messages and boiled them down into 23 tips on writing.
Some were simple pieces of advice. "Read," said Lynn Kalber of The Palm Beach Post. "… it's surprising how many reporters don't."
Others offered more practical career advice. "The best tip I ever heard was 'Go to law school,'" wrote John Burr of The Florida Times-Union. "I think this had as much to do with this person's assessment of my talent as it did with the state of the newspaper business."
As I pored over the list a problem emerged. I realized that I alone could not choose the Greatest Writing Tip the World Has Ever Seen. I needed help.

The mood in the conference room was electric. The journalists' instincts told them something momentous was about to happen.
I stood before them, pausing to let the tension build. Then I told them they were about to become a part of history.
"Together," I shouted, holding my hands out in a sweeping gesture like Moses or John Madden, "we are going to choose the Greatest Writing Tip the World Has Ever Seen."
Silence. Perhaps it was fear, but some people actually ran out of the room. Others whispered to their neighbors and giggled with nervous laughter.
I'll admit it now. I was scared. But there was no looking back.
We broke up into small groups, with each receiving a stack of newspapers and a sheet of paper containing just one of the writing tips. Each group was charged with testing out their writing tip on a story they chose at random from their pile of newspapers. They'd discuss whether it was useful to them and then they'd switch and try out another tip.
And so on.
We pressed on like this for more than an hour.
I ran around the room exchanging writing tips as the groups feverishly tried to test out as many of the techniques as they could.
With about 20 minutes left, we stopped and nominated the six finalists: Finding the Focus, Finding the Nutgraf, The Great Lede Test, Jargon Hunt, Quote Alert and Details, Details.
The final vote brought about a clear winner: The Great Lede Test, submitted by Kathy Norton, the public editor of the Poughkeepsie Journal.
Then, a controversy threatened to derail this momentous event. From the back of the room came shouts that the vote had been split because the focus and nutgraf tips were too similar. These two categories should be combined and a new winner announced, some insisted.
But no hanging chads were going to interfere this time. The numbers stood. We had chosen our winner.

As we reveled in what we had done, I asked: Is this really the Greatest Writing Tip the World has Ever Seen? Many in the audience felt other tips worked better for them. Others just wanted to know why lede was spelled incorrectly.
I asked how many of them tried new writing techniques on a regular basis. Several said they were too busy to be experimenting with new things on deadline that might throw them off their schedule.
But they also agreed that in the last hour they had discovered at least one new way of looking at their writing that might help the next time they're staring down a 30-minute deadline and a story that's going nowhere fast.
Which made me wonder.
Could it be that the Greatest Writing Tip the World Has Ever Seen is not one specific idea? Could it be that the best piece of advice I can give to any journalist is to keep striving to find new ways to write because, in that search, they'll keep expanding their skills and keep growing as wordsmiths?
A friend once told me that the greatest teachers are those who never stop learning. Maybe this same message works for journalists.