Playbook: The Basics of Writing for Bleacher Report

By King Kaufman

Bleacher Report is a meritocracy. The best writers get rewarded.

But what does "best" really mean? How do editors judge the quality of the writing on one of the most successful and respected English-language sports websites in the world?

One key tool is the objective evaluation system used by B/R's Quality Control Team. Editors use this system to judge whether Bleacher Report writers have mastered the basics of B/R sportswriting, and where they need to shore up their skills if they haven't.

"Objective" might sound like a strange word to use because we all know that writing is an art form. But just as we can evaluate whether a musician hits the notes correctly or is playing in the right key, there are some things within the art of sportswriting that we can judge objectively.

"Playbook" is a guide to mastering those things. In pedagogical terms, "Playbook" is teaching to the test.

By rationalizing the way we review writing performance and provide feedback, we hope to give B/R writers a clear picture of what we're looking for. In other words, we don't want you to learn about the evaluation system so you can score brownie points with evaluators. We want you to use its concepts because they will help you build a loyal audience for your writing.

And we believe that mastering the concepts in this book will help your online writing, wherever you publish and whatever the subject matter.

This isn't just theory. We've tested it. We've seen the results since the evaluation system went into effect in the fall of 2012. We've seen across-the-board improvement from writers who have engaged with the feedback that's based on the system. Their pieces get flagged less often for Content Standards violations, and are programmed on the B/R front page and in other prominent slots—the Team Stream app, CNN.com, etc.—more often.

That means editors using subjective criteria—their own news judgment—are determining that those writers' stories are good enough for high placement more often.

Having said all that, there are limits to what this type of evaluation system can do. Writing really is an art form, and while an objective evaluation can judge things like grammar, diction, story organization and adherence to B/R style, it can't judge things like how well you know your subject, how funny or profound you are or whether your prose really sings.

That requires a human touch. Bleacher Report has that too. It's outside the scope of "Playbook."

"Playbook" is about the basics, about separating the good from the not-there-yet, and helping the latter group make the leap to the former. Mastering the book's concepts is a prerequisite to becoming an outstanding online writer, but it's only a first step.

Once you've built that foundation—which, again, will benefit your writing wherever you go—your long-term prospects will depend on the kind of nuanced intangibles that are better judged by more subjective methods. "Playbook" can get you into that game.

• Language: English
• Publisher: King Kaufman
• Release date: Nov 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781310752797

King Kaufman

King Kaufman is the Writer Program Manager for Bleacher Report. He oversees education and editorial feedback for the site's writers and maintains the Bleacher Report Blog, a resource for aspiring journalists.Kaufman began his career as an editor and boxing writer at the Hearst San Francisco Examiner before spending 14 years at Salon.com, first as its founding copy editor and eventually as the author of the King Kaufman's Sports Daily column. For two years, he advised the student newspaper at Washington University in St. Louis. He was the co-editor of the 2012 and 2013 editions of "Baseball Prospectus," and his writing has been anthologized in the following collections:"Afterwords: Stories and Reports From 9/11 and Beyond""Iron Mike: A Mike Tyson Reader""Dialogues: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader, 4th Edition""Top of the Order: 25 Writers Pick Their Favorite Baseball Player of All Time""The Hall of Nearly Great"

Book preview

Playbook

The Basics of Writing for Bleacher Report

By the Bleacher Report Quality Control Team

Edited by King Kaufman

Copyright 2013 Bleacher Report

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition License Notes:

Thank you for downloading this free ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Three story types

Chapter 3: Ledes

Chapter 4: News Report Story Angle

Chapter 5: News Report Narrative Structure and Information Aggregation

Chapter 6: Argumentative Articles: Thesis, Rhetorical Structure, Factual Evidence

Chapter 7: Ranked Lists: Ranking Logic

Chapter 8: Ranked List Topic, List Composition

Chapter 9: Attribution and Hyperlinks

Chapter 10: Textual Correctness

Chapter 11: Sentence and Paragraph Structure

Chapter 12: Diction

Chapter 13: Authorial Voice

Chapter 14: Headlines

Chapter 15: B/R Style and Formatting

Chapter 16: Multimedia Assets

Chapter 17: Common Mistakes—General

Chapter 18: Common Mistakes—Three Article Types

Chapter 1: Introduction

Bleacher Report is a meritocracy. The best writers get rewarded.

But what does best really mean? How do we judge the quality of the writing on the site?

One key tool is the objective evaluation system used by B/R's Quality Control Team. Editors use this system to judge whether Bleacher Report writers have mastered the basics of B/R sportswriting, and where they need to shore up their skills if they haven't. We also use it to check ourselves when we've determined that a particular story is solid enough for placement on the site cover or some other prominent spot, such as in a Team Stream feed or on the cover of CNN.com.

Objective  might sound like a strange word to use because we all know that writing is an art form. But just as we can evaluate whether a musician hits the notes correctly or is playing in the right key, there are some things within the art of sportswriting that we can judge objectively.

Playbook is a guide to mastering those things: It seems logical, not to mention fair, that as long as we're subjecting your writing to these criteria, we ought to tell you what they are and how you can best meet them. In pedagogical terms, Playbook is teaching to the test. For a brief introduction into some of the concepts we'll be talking about here, you can read the B/R Engagement Guide.

Objective evaluations mean that as a B/R writer, you're not subject to the whims of an I know good writing when I see it approach, to one editor telling you to do something that will improve your writing, then another coming along the next day and telling you the opposite. If some aspect of your writing is good according to the evaluation standards, it will be good in the eyes of everyone on our editorial staff too.

By rationalizing the way we review writing performance and provide feedback, we hope to give B/R writers a clear picture of what we're looking for. In other words, we don't want you to learn about the evaluation system so you can score brownie points with evaluators. We want you to use its concepts because they will help you build a loyal audience for your writing.

And we believe that mastering the concepts in this book will help your online writing, wherever you publish and whatever the subject matter.

This isn't just theory. We've tested it. We're only rolling out Playbook now because we've seen