Kylie Jefferson

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How To Write A Compelling Article That Gets The Reader’s Attention?

With so many writers on the market, it has become very challenging to grab your readers’ attention. Nowadays, people are short on time, and they don’t want to waste it on long posts. In this case, your content should be engaging, and provide with a solution for their problem, Are You On Page 1? You better be!

Keep in mind that you only have a couple of seconds to convince to keep going. If you are serious enough and want to perfect these skills, then you can apply for one of many education writing jobs. This is why we are going to show you a few simple writing hacks and help you attract an audience.

Create a strong audience

Imagine that you are going through the newly released books at the bookstore and you only have a couple of minutes to look at the titles. Of course, you will choose one that has the more intriguing cover. Well, the same rule applies to posts and articles.

People on the web are bored with a constant stream of articles and online content. They want something new, unique and attention-grabbing. So, if you’re going to stand out, then you have to offer value to the readers in exchange for their time.

There are four rules you should follow when writing a title. It should be unique, specific, urgent and useful. In most cases, writers won’t be able to cover all four aspects. But, it’s enough to include at least two, and they should give you a strong headline.
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Have an irresistible introduction

When you have caught your readers’ attention with the title, it’s time to make an excellent introduction. The first paragraph is the most important one and helps your readers decide whether they want to read more or not.

There are three crucial elements of a powerful introduction you should include.

The hook – this is the part where you grab the reader’s attention with an exciting story, fact or a question. For instance, you should set a problem and tell your readers what they are facing with. Many writers like to address this issue with an additional question to lure their audience further.

Transition – this section should be a story about the famous person or even a story about yourself. In the transition, you try to broaden the problem, then explain you have found a solution.

Thesis statement – here you try to summarize the entire post in one sentence and how it will help your audience to solve their problem.

Make your post easy to read

Even if you write an excellent post that is informative and problem-solving, people might still not stay around to read it. They will glance to cover the basics and move on. A lot of them are wary of the click baits, and they don’t want to waste their time.

But, here are a couple of steps that can help you have a more engaged audience.

Break your article into shot sections – the subheadings provide your readers with an outline to follow, and the short segments are much easier to digest.

Use short paragraphs and sentences – the long blocks of text are too dull to read, and most people give up at the beginning. In this case, try to write paragraphs that are two or three sentences long.

Check your post – it needs to be readable and easy to comprehend. You can use many online tools to evaluate your article against a readability score.

The Best Journalism Teacher I Ever Had

Journalism provides so many people with an outlet to express themselves and also to bring the readers the knowledge about the world. However, not anyone can be successful writes, and only the best ones have the talent to capture the story and add spark to their articles.

You should keep in mind that these features don’t come naturally, they are developed over the time and through the years of schooling. I learned this from my early years.

Ever since I was a kid a love writing. But, back then, my talent and skills were raw. I would write about anything that grabbed my attention. Soon, my parents recognized my interested and pushed me to follow my dreams and I can’t thank them enough.

Sometimes, when you have the support and someone to encourage is better than any talent or skill you could ever have. Besides my parents who believed in me, there is also another person who help them my follow my dreams.

In the first year of journalism school, I met a journalism teacher Mr. James, who encouraged me to continue with this career path. To honest, our first encounter was somewhat unusual. We were given the assignment to complete over the weekend.

I was quite satisfied with how everything turned out, and I was hoping for the best results. Unfortunately, I was too confident because I receive a bad review for my work. At that moment I felt disappointed and a bit angry.

I couldn’t wait for the next class to come to address this issue and express my disapproval. He sat there patiently and waited for me to finish. We spent a couple of moments in silent, and I started feeling a bit uncomfortable, and then he told me one sentence that I will remember as long as I live, “you write with your heart, not mind.”

He then explained that my essay was excellent, but it lacks soul, personal touch, and inner strength. At that time, I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but he offered to help me build my style and shape my writing.

In some way, professor James became my mentor who will later mark my entire carries. He is one of the best people I’ve had the privilege to know. With his help, I learned not only about writing but also about people, the world, and the society we live in.

 

The Professional Journalism Contests

Every journalist dreams of getting an award on some prestigious competition, but only best can accomplish this goal. Nowadays, you have various categories in which you can compete. Depending on your writing style and technique, you should explore your gift and always aim for the big.

Journalists who aren’t forced to work on Christmas and Thanksgiving are indeed the blessed ones. Everyone who is into this business knows how challenging and demanding it can be. We all think one day Pulitzer will be ours, which is a tremendous gift for journalist.

But, until that day arrives, here are some exciting competitions you can apply and test your talent.

Sigma Delta Chi Awards

The Sigma Delta Chi Awards falls into the premier category, and it’s one of the most prestigious competitions in this industry. The prizes that are given in this profession are unique because of the value achievement in all forms of journalism.

There are various categories included, such as newspaper, magazines, photography, television and online journalism. The contest is open to anyone who has any work published or broadcasted by a U.S. or international media outlet. Freelance work is also accepted, but it must be published within the current year.

Every entry must be followed by a cover letter.

Mark of Excellence Awards

This contest honors the best collegiate journalism. It is judged at a regional and national level, and the annual competition offers an opportunity to participate in 51 different categories, such as newspaper, magazine, photography, radio, television and online writing.

Here writers have a freedom to express their creativity and compete for the states honors and professional awards. Mostly this is the contest for students. Everyone who is enrolled in the U.S. or international college or university has the right to apply.

At the time of publication or broadcast, you must be enrolled as a student. Otherwise, you will be disqualified.

New America Award

The New America Award honors public service journalism and exposes all the issues important to immigrants and ethnic communities in the U.S.

In the last couple of years, immigrants have been under a lot of pressure, especially those coming from the middle east. The journalists are trying to be more open towards this issue and expose the struggles they are facing every day.

For candidates to be eligible, they must submit their work within the current year, and the competition applies to all media outlets, journalists, communities, advocacy groups, and individuals.

Each candidate must submit a cover letter, explaining the importance of the issue and why it was chosen.

 

How To Become A Writing Coach?

Showing students of any age how to improve their writing skills can be a rewarding experience for anyone who is an accomplished writer and enjoys this profession. However, teaching is not for everyone, and you need to be able to transfer knowledge on your students.

This job allows you a lot of flexibility, and you can mentor you clients at home, in a coffee shop and even online. You sent your hours and rates. If you want to peruse this career path, then you need to have excellent writing skills, as well as patients to teach those skills to others. So, here are a couple of steps on how to become a writing coach.

Identify the type of writing

When starting with this job, you need to identify what kind of writing coach services you want to provide and how much experience and skills do you possess. For instance, if your expertise is in writing plots and dialogs that will be performed on stage, or you have experience in this area, then you should be able to provide meaningful insight.

On the other hand, having an academic background, which can help you students incorporate research into a compelling story, is a crucial asset. Nowadays, writing coach jobs are in high demand, and you can have a lucrative career, only if you have the right set of skills.

Identify your clients

Not everyone requires writing coach services, so you need to identify possible clients and who have the ability to become better at writing. People who fall into this group might be high school student who wants to improve their term papers, or adult learners who want to try their hand at novels, or even international student who want to boost up their writing skills.

You have numerous possibilities, and maybe the last category will provide you with most of the work. Nowadays, English is the most popular second language, and many people are struggling with writing and spelling.

This is your opportunity to enhance your career and acquire a large number of students.

How will you teach

Due to an internet revolution, you no longer need to have classes in person. Now, the majority of teachers opt for online lessons because it’s convenient and comfortable. Regardless of the method, you choose to follow; you need to customize lessons plant to address student’s needs.

You should read their paper and then prepare the detailed analysis. If you have another full-time job, then providing coaching services might be a bit tricky. In this case, you can only offer classes at weekends or evenings.

On the other hand, teaching online provides you with numerous opportunities, and you don’t have to limit the number of clients. The reviewing process doesn’t require both parties to be present, and you can review a couple of papers for one day.

Make sure to research online how much other coaches are charging and then offer competitive prices. If you fee to too high, then no one will hire your services, no matter how good you are.

Start a website or a blog

If you are an advanced coach who has a lot of clients and you want to expand your business even further, then we advise you to launch a website. Here you can name the services you offer, schedule fees, write a brief biography and add a client’s questionnaire.

Try to find some time to write shot blogs that provide writing tips, grammar quizzes and recommended writing a list. This will help your client realize how dedicated you are towards this job and also they will learn something new. Hire a web designer that will shape everything and make a beautiful template for your online page.

Create an evaluation form

The evaluation form can be an excellent feature of one website. Here you can comment on various elements, such as their originality, quality of the content, organization, knowledge of the material, focus, perspective, spelling, tone and many more.

This provides students with helpful insight. They will know what to focus their attention and offer you a starting point for a customized lesson plan. You can do this in narrative form, or just make a list of things where you will rank their skills. Make sure to provide concrete examples to support each ranking you give.

Work on marketing

If you want to be seen or noticed, then you need to work on marketing and promoting your services. It doesn’t matter how good you are if no one has ever heard of you. Depending on your teaching style, you can either drop off flyers and brochures at high schools, college campuses, coffee shops and anywhere you can recognize your clients, or you can boost up online marketing.

Present your best features and offer unique solutions because it’s the only way to get clients to trust you.

The Top Three Writing Awards Every Writer Should Know

Writing prizes and contests are an essential factor in any authors career. The fame and recognition that come with winning a prize can be a significant boost in self-esteem and help you achieve things you never thought were possible.

Regardless of the size of the competition, it’s always good to have your name out there. You can meet new people, enter the writing community and earn a few publications along the way. This is why we compiled a list of most prestigious writing and educate awards every author should be aware of.

Pulitzer Prize

Winning a distinguished Pulitzer Prize takes more than submitting your favorite work. This is one of the most challenging competitions in the world of literature and writing. First of all, to be able to participate, you have to submit a $50 entry fee and then go through a strict process of evaluation.

Five to seven judges will decide the fate of your work and they only accept the most prominent pieces of American literature. There are several categories writers can apply for, fiction, nonfiction, drama, history, poetry, and biography.

The winner gets a certificate for his or her achievement and $10,000 cash. But, we believe that winning a Pulitzer Prize is a tremendous accomplishment than any monetary award.

Nobel Prize

Instead of judging one piece, the Nobel Prize was given to those whose lives have been spent on literature. Your work should inspire readers of all age and positively influence the world. In this case, the author must be nominated by other prestigious writers, professors, etc.

Compared to Pulitzer Prize, this one is well worth. The winner gets over 1 million in U.S. currency. The only fact of winning a Noble Prize in literature should be enough to boost your career into the stars and open a world of incredible possibilities.

PEN/Faulkner Award For Fiction

The is no entry fee or application form for PEN/Faulkner Award For Fiction award, but your work must be published. The Foundation accepts novels, novellas and short story collection that has been released by any press.

This is an excellent way to test your work and see the response of the audience. You can be either nominated by one of their editors and submit your application to them. This competition has a massive influence in North America and publications of accepted authors get credit and public recognition.

 

While Student Media Presence Remains Strong In Schools Only One Third Have Online Media

In the last couple of years, our education systems seem to be adapting the online changes that have occurred in schools, universities, and colleges around the world. Deciding to pursue an online program can be intimidating for students and teaches as well.

You need to be organized and prepared for changes, and this type of program can facilitate the entire college or high school experience. However, colleges and universities appear to be more advanced in this process than high school. They offer their students online programs, exam taking, grading, and timetables, while high schools seem to be lacking in this department.

If the majority of schools had implemented online platforms, then things would have been much more comfortable. For example, you could look at your schedule, download homework and even receive grades through an online system.

So far, only one-third of schools in the U.S. have such online platform which supports all the mentioned features, even though student media remains strong.  But, we should explore this option further. If all the schools developed this type of system, then our kids wouldn’t be under such pressure.

In this case, they could get all the information from the website. Let’s say your kid forgot his homework at school, of he can’t remember what teacher told him. Within a couple of seconds, you could access the page and get all the required information.

The same rule applies to teachers. They could grade students online, leave a comment about performance and tell them how and what to learn. In this case, parents can always be in touch with his kid’s academic achievement.

Even if you are working long hours and don’t have much time to pay attention to your child’s needs, you can always check his grades and teacher comments through an online system.

However, as we mentioned earlier, not many schools are rushing to implement this online platform. We are still stuck on pen and paper, even though some advocacy groups are trying to change that. If parents, teachers, and lawmakers realized how easy this could be, we would be going through a second internet revolution.

As a member of society, we play an essential role in shaping our kids’ future, and we must fight for their well-being.

How to follow the Seattle JEA/NSPA convention with the #hsjSEA hashtag, whether you are on Twitter or not

Are you interested in Seattle and you want to see what people are talking about? Or, maybe you are in town, and you want to hear and see about favorite spots and who else is there? For people who are using Twitter and tagging their photos with the #hsjSEA hashtag and jea/nspa convention, it’s easy to follow what is going on.

But, did you know you can follow along with all the action, even if you don’t have a Twitter account? You must be wondering; why would you do that? A lot of people are posting tips and tricks they have learned. You can generally learn plenty of things from Twitter feed because you can be present at multiple places at once.

However, if you don’t have a Twitter account, don’t worry, you can still create a stream to follow all the mentions of the hashtag. For instance, you can install an app on your phone called Hootsuite.

The app is user-friendly, and we are going to show you how to create a stream. First of all, you need to sign up, it free and easy. Once you enter the app, on the right top corner, you will see a search option. Depending on the hashtag you want to follow, here you will enter for instance hsjSEA hashtag and press enter.

Then, the app will display all the stream coming through with this hashtag. You will be able to see what people are posting. You can choose to save the stream, and this will save you time. So, whenever you enter the Hootsuite, you will have your stream saved.

Another great place to follow along on hashtags, even if you aren’t a Twitter member is the Hashtag website. It works similar to Google; you have a search option where you enter a hashtag you want to follow and press Enter.

It will display recent results and help you find the most interesting tweets. Basically, hashtags are often used on Twitter, and they categorize tweets and help other members to find them easily. Nowadays, you can find a lot of exciting news on this social media platform, and people use to express their option about specific topics.

So, go ahead, type #hsjSEA and see what you can find already. We guarantee you plenty of results.

Apply for AAJA Scholarships

Each scholarship has its demands and requirements. But, overall, they are gifts and don’t have to be repaid. There are thousands of them offered by the private companies, individuals, communities, religious groups, social organizations, and employers.

For example, some scholarships for college are merit-based, which means you have to earn them by meeting or exceeding certain standards. They can be awarded based on academic achievement or mixture of academics and unique talents. Other types are based on financial need.

A scholarship might cover the entire cost of your tuition, or it can be a one-time award. Either way, we think it’s worth applying for because it will help you decrease the costs of education.

When we are talking about AAJA Scholarship, there are specific requirements each candidate needs to meet. This is a scholarship for journalism, and it will facilitate this entire process.

Rules

Students who are committed to journalism, want to pursue this career and want to follow the AAJA’s mission.

Full-time undergraduate or graduate student who are taking journalism or related course and want to become professional journalists. Considering there are a couple of states who are awarding this scholarship, the preference will be given to students residing within the specific country.

The panel of judges reviews and approves all the applications. But, don’t worry, the selection process is independent and current student board members can apply.

The past scholarship winners will be declined.

The AAJA organization encourages all students who are in need of a scholarship to apply. For membership information, you can visit their website.

Some organizations require the applicant to volunteer at specific events. However, this is only a bonus feature, and it won’t affect your application.

The applicant must submit a resume, academic transcript, at least three work samples, in any combination. It can be video, photo or other media. Also, make sure to involve an essay and two letters of recommendation.

The entire process and be completed over the internet, so you don’t have to submit your application physically.

A $1,000 fee is applied toward educational expenses.

If you have additional questions, then make sure to get all the required information. Incomplete application will be rejected. Depending on the state you are applying, you will find a contact form on their website. Use this to ask about all the things you find confusing.

Pay attention to deadline and good luck with your application.

Top Three Writing Tricks Recommended By Writing Coach

Whether you want to improve your writing skills or become an accomplished author, hiring a writing coach is a useful, but also expensive experience. If you’re going to explore your talent further, then here are a couple of tips and trick we got from writing coaches that will take your skills to another level.

Paint the scene at the beginning

Have you ever read one piece or story and imagined characters in one place, only to find two paragraphs later that room was light, not dark and the characters were surrounded with people and not alone, as you imagined?

This type of construction will not only confuse your readers but also frustrate them and take them out of the magical world they started creating. Instead of making this mistake, you should picture the scene in your mind and clear all the details at the beginning.

Be specific about the placement

Don’t make your readers guess the position of the characters. You can clarify each placement by using verbs, for example, she sat, or she stood. In order to write a clear scene, you should have a clear picture in your mind.

If you don’t have an idea where to place characters or if everything is still confusing in your mind, then you won’t be able to produce an excellent piece. Keep your descriptions sparse and straightforward and yet very clear. Otherwise, your readers won’t be able to understand the flow.

Make your readers draw the conclusion

Don’t go telling them that she was nervous or he was happy. Instead of this, make your characters do something that will show your readers their state of mind. For instance, nervous characters use the specific facial expression, a stutter, or wiping the sweat from his hands.

Your readers must conclude what the action means. In this case, they are staying engaged and interested. With this trick, the reader will try to guess the meaning of each activity and remain focused on the characters. Your piece will never be boring or dull.

 

 

Become a Writing Coach For Public Schools In Three Steps

Various schools’ districts have different background and education requirements for writing coaches they employ. If you want to pursue this career path and become an established educator that will help kids improve their writing skills, then follow our guideline. We are going to show you how to become a writing coach and take your career to another level.

Establish yourself as a writer

Create a resume and promotional material that will define you as an expert writer. You should be prepared to show samples of your work during the interview and application process. You can also include a couple of examples with the CV you send.

The majority of schools require a cover letter as well. In this case, you should express why you want to help public school children, what qualifies you for that position and what experience do you have. All these features will determine whether your application will be accepted or not.

Determine the type of coaching you want to offer

When applying for this job position, you should talk about the different writing positions they have, similar to staff writer for a television show or news reporter. You should explain how your position will help students overcome issues with writing and teach them to tell stories.

Keep in mind that writing coach position isn’t only about storytelling, but also about language use. Your students need to be able to construct grammatically correct sentences and use language more effectively and efficiently.

Build a lesson plan

The lesson plant should support your curriculum. Every coach should teach his student to write better, not change their habits completely. Depending on students, you can either offer an online lesson or in person at home.

Even though, online lessons will provide you with a more flexible schedule, some student like personal involvement and teacher engagement. If you have a supplemental material, then they will appreciate your engagement more. The materials will assist them during the class, and you can always give them the list of reading materials or offer other recourses.