One of the most difficult things people face when
it comes time to put the pen to the paper is, what
to write about. In iPrepare campaign, you can choose
one of the three
assignment topics. The assignment
descriptions are suggestions – they are not to limit
your creativity, but rather designed to get your own
creative thoughts flowing.
Now, collect material from different sources. A
useful method is to go and meet people who deal with
the issues you are going to write about. Prepare
yourself for the meetings with a set of questions
you are going to ask: What would be interesting for
the reader? What would you like to know about the
topic yourself?
Next step: just write!
Write without stopping to think about or editing what you have written until you are finished writing. This way, you avoid criticizing your own work and discouraging yourself. Another technique would be to record yourself talking about the topic for a moment and then play it back and put it on paper.
When you sit down to write, choose a place that you and your team will write an iPrepare story best, whether it be in a café, park or library, because your best work will come from somewhere you enjoy working.
Don’t forget the final touch
The beginning of the story needs to grab the
reader’s attention and sum up the main message of
the story. Later in the article, you can provide
background of the topic and add quotes from the
people you met on the field to bring up different
points-of-view.
The maximum length of an iPrepare story is 1700 characters including spaces. As you are writing for the web, try to keep the sentences and paragraphs short. The significance of a catchy header cannot be underestimated, and adding a few sub-headers will increase the chances that everyone will read through the whole story.
Materials
iPrepare launch lecture at the University of Yangon and Pathein University, September 2017: