( July 22, 2007 ) - Meeting in Washington, DC, the Construction Writers Association (CWA) heard a full morning of presentations designed to polish members' skills.

Getting the Story Started

The panel included Kirk Landers, editorial director of Better Roads; Greg Sitek, editorial director for the Associated Construction Publications; and Rod Sutton, editor-in-chief of Construction Equipment.

The best place to look for article ideas, according to Landers, is consumer magazines. "Most of us in trade magazines tend to be too focused on expository writing and forget how to slant and package and make things exciting," Landers explained. Another great source for article ideas is journalism contests, according to Landers, who has screened the Neal Awards competition for more than 10 years. "This is a significant investment on our part. We're a very small company," he said. "But it pays off because we see how other people are doing things."

Mingling with industry officials at association meetings goes a long way, Landers recommended. "They're a great place for me as an editor to find out what is going on." Landers also makes it a point to scour research materials that are published every year.

Other suggestions made by Landers include:

-- Write "killer" headlines, even before the conception of a story

-- Review old issues of your magazine, looking for missed opportunities and poorly written stories

-- Maintain a "hyperbole list" -- a running collection of all things greatest, fastest, biggest, etc. Any " ... est" is automatically interesting.

-- Make a list of 10 industry leaders every year. Contact them and "Google" their names in search of story angles. Talk to as many people as you can and talk about what's going on in the industry. Ask them, "What keeps you up at night? What do you see occurring 10 years down the line?"

Sitek recommended story outlines, calling them "road maps." A good outline, he said, can save time and effort while building to a conclusion. The outline should be limited to one piece of paper so that when you look at it, you have a picture of the article.

On the topic of staying current, Sitek noted the importance of reading; specifically, books that are on the best seller's list. "You don't really want to write for a small audience," he added. "The more people that read your stuff, the better."

Sutton offered advice on how to write great "ledes" and "enders." "I don't put an introduction on the outline," Sutton said. "I go right into writing, and the reason I do that is that most of the time you'll find your lede buried in the first two or three paragraphs."

Anecdotes are great ways to start stories. So are human-interest angles. "You tell this kind of humanizing story, and it grabs people, hopefully to read the rest of your article," Sutton said. Another way to grab readers' attention is to surprise or humor them. "If you can surprise them with something they're not expecting when they're reading about construction equipment, you're going to hook them."

Regarding conclusions, Sutton said they have to tie up the story. "You've got to spend as much time on the ender as you do the lede," he continued. And what's the best type of conclusion? "The best way to end a story, in my mind, is with a really strong quote," Sutton said. "These are challenging. The key is it has to be strong."

Perfecting the 30-Second Pitch

Mike Manion, Mid-Atlantic Regional Market Director of Vistage International, led an interactive session, helping attendees practice introducing their organizations or services. When it comes to engaging a contact, Manion instructed, you need to get their attention, put them at ease, and show the benefits of what you are offering. Stop thinking and talking about yourself and focus on the other person's interests.

Manion added, "Be concise and get to the point. What they want is a real human being, speaking a language they use every day. They don't want to hear the party line. They will not respond. Don't be superficial, and add some "meat" to your pitch. "This might be a concrete fact that proves what you do does work," he said.

Show candor, he concluded. "You have to be real, and you have to be real honest. If you can't speak very candidly and tell them things that they need to hear but might not want to hear, you will lose many potential clients."

How to Be (or Hire) a Contract Writer

The panel included M.D. (Doc) Morris, a freelance writer and contract editor; Mark Sprouls, a contract writer who works with Caterpillar; Johnny Campos of Caterpillar; and Jim Parsons, a freelance writer.

Campos, a trade press relations employee with Caterpillar and a former contract writer, said his company seeks writers who have prior industry knowledge. However, he noted, "It's much easier to teach someone who knows how to write about the construction industry than it is to show an engineer how to write a press release."

Inevitably, many of Caterpillar's contract writers are former employees. "So that makes for an easy transition," added Campos. "Once hired by a company such as Caterpillar, the biggest advantage is the easy access to valuable resources."

The difference between a contract writer and a freelancer writer, according to Morris, is that a magazine will direct a contract writer while a freelancer will have to be much more autonomous. "If you're a freelance writer without a regular contract, you have to come up with the ideas and sell them to the editor," Morris stated. "Get an idea that's viable and write a summation of what the whole thing is about."

Parsons said, "I've had very few contract writing relationships. However, I've had several clients that I've worked for the entire 12 years I've been freelancing. You do have to market, but you also need to be able to do a good job. You need to be able to continually understand editors' needs and hone your skills as a writer."

"Freelancers that work regularly for an organization, be it a magazine or a vendor, are actually contract writers whether they sign a contract or not," Sprouls advised. Meanwhile, there seem to be more people trying to hire a contract writer than become one, Sprouls added. For those editors looking for a contract writer, the best way to approach the hiring is to treat it "as if you were hiring an office temp. Test them out."

Visit the Construction Writers Association website at http://www.constructionwriters.org.