Make It Memorable (eBook)

Bob Dotson, Special Correspondent for the NBC Today show, has more than forty years of experience in the field of broadcast journalism. His long running “American Story” segment is one of the most honored series in network television history, winning more than 100 awards, including eight Emmys. In addition, Dotson has received more than seventy awards, including six Edward R. Murrow Awards for “Best Network News Writing”, the top journalism awards from both DuPont-Columbia and the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation, numerous National Headliner Awards and “the highest honor in the field of photojournalism,” the Sprague Memorial Citation from the National Press Photographers Association. He is also recipient of the William Allen White Foundation’s 2015 National Citation for long-standing journalistic excellence in service to the profession and community.

Chapter 1: How to Become a StorytellerReporting vs. StorytellingThe Rule of Threes and Filling the SilenceThe Question That is Not a QuestionScript #1: Lives LostThe Most Important Thing You Should Do Before an InterviewThe Best Thing You Can Do After an InterviewHow to Quickly Write a Good Opening LineChapter 2: The Game of What If?Hey. You. See. So.Script #2: Pops DreamSurprisesScript #3: Farm to FameHumorStructuring a Visual StoryPlanning Notes for YouTube Star SegmentWhat Went on the Cutting Room FloorScript #4: YouTube StarChapter 3: Getting StartedLook for Different Ways to Tell Your StoryScript #5: Found ArtFind a Strong Central CharacterScript #6: Park Avenue PeelerFind Interesting Stories and People to Interview, Even When Time and Money are TightScript #7: Living Ghost TownChapter 4: I’m Sorry This Story Is So Long. I Didn’t Have Time to Write a Short One.Pictures Come FirstWrite the Middle of Your Story NextAsk Yourself, “What Does This Mean?”Don’t Throw Away ThoughtsScript #8: Cave RescueHighlight a Story’s Natural DramaWorking FastScript #9: Ruby BridgesScene SettingForeshadowingConflictCharacter GrowthResolutionPut Stories into ContextChapter 5: The Building Blocks of a StoryWordsVideoSilenceNatural SoundSound BitesReporter On-Camera Stand-UpGraphicsScript #10: Pearl Harbor’s Untold StoryEditing StoriesChapter 6: A Survival Kit for Professional Storytellers in the Social Media AgeThe “So What” Test“One Thing is Certain . . .”You Are Not the StoryIt’s Video Folks, Not the MoviesBe ConversationalGobbledygook and ClichésActive VoiceWrite in ThreesHow to End a StoryCar WarsA Final ThoughtAppendix: Reporter’s ChecklistGlossary of Script CuesAcknowledgmentsIndexAbout the Author