Because magazines plan their content weeks and months in advance, they can’t report on breaking news the way newspapers -- which get printed every day -- do. (That said, there are exceptions. Some newspapers, for example, will put reporters on a single story for many months and then run a series about it, or a long magazine-style story.) But, like newspaper stories, all magazine stories need hooks.
Finding a Hook
Hooks come in all shapes and sizes or, more specifically, some are obvious and some less so. Hooks are the piece of a story that makes it relevant right now. Although there are stories that are considered “evergreen” -- i.e. they have perennial relevance -- the majority of magazine stories (like newspaper stories) need a hook. If you work at, say, Entertainment Weekly, you will usually work on stories about an actor or a musician when they have a current project coming out. In other words, you’ll do a piece on Will Smith the week before his summer blockbuster hits theaters. So the hook of the story -- the reason you’re writing a piece about Will Smith at that moment in time -- is because he’s about to release a new movie. An evergreen piece, however, might be a summer movie round-up. Every summer EW might do a rundown of what the big movies are in theaters because the idea addresses new content every year.
Overseeing a Section
If you look closely at any magazine, you’ll notice that there are recurring sections and specific kinds of stories that run in that magazine.
Editors determine the look and feel of these sections. Just as editors at newspapers work on specific sections of the paper, magazine editors also specialize. Magazines are generally (though not always) broken down into three sections: the front-of-the-book (or FOB); the feature well; and the back-of-the-book (BOB). Generally, the FOB caters to smaller, newsier stories, while the well contains the longer stories and the BOB has a mix of recurring columns and shorter stories.
Often magazine editors will work on a specific section of a magazine coming up with story ideas, finding good writers and, sometimes, writing the stories themselves. Magazine editors are therefore major idea generators as well as occasional writers and traditional editors.
Finding a Hook
Hooks come in all shapes and sizes or, more specifically, some are obvious and some less so. Hooks are the piece of a story that makes it relevant right now. Although there are stories that are considered “evergreen” -- i.e. they have perennial relevance -- the majority of magazine stories (like newspaper stories) need a hook. If you work at, say, Entertainment Weekly, you will usually work on stories about an actor or a musician when they have a current project coming out. In other words, you’ll do a piece on Will Smith the week before his summer blockbuster hits theaters. So the hook of the story -- the reason you’re writing a piece about Will Smith at that moment in time -- is because he’s about to release a new movie. An evergreen piece, however, might be a summer movie round-up. Every summer EW might do a rundown of what the big movies are in theaters because the idea addresses new content every year.
Overseeing a Section
If you look closely at any magazine, you’ll notice that there are recurring sections and specific kinds of stories that run in that magazine.
Editors determine the look and feel of these sections. Just as editors at newspapers work on specific sections of the paper, magazine editors also specialize. Magazines are generally (though not always) broken down into three sections: the front-of-the-book (or FOB); the feature well; and the back-of-the-book (BOB). Generally, the FOB caters to smaller, newsier stories, while the well contains the longer stories and the BOB has a mix of recurring columns and shorter stories.
Often magazine editors will work on a specific section of a magazine coming up with story ideas, finding good writers and, sometimes, writing the stories themselves. Magazine editors are therefore major idea generators as well as occasional writers and traditional editors.
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