EVERY WRITER NEEDS AN EDITOR. Some are fortunate to have good ones; others have bad ones, and many have none at all. If you are in the latter two categories, Dick Weiss can help.
Dick offers workshops and provides one-on-one coaching in person or by e-mail for journalists, freelance writers, students, communications professionals, and those who have simply got a story to tell.
Dick has 30 years experience as an award winning reporter, editor and writing coach, most of them at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Visit "About WeissWrite" for a bio and writing samples.
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #53
A Father's Day Gift of Letters -- Weekend America
Facing the prospect of an empty nest, I asked my three girls last November if they would start writing me a series of e-mails each month in which they would share memories of their childhood and their dad. Weekend America's Marc Sanchez learned of this and asked if I would share some of the correspondence. He turned it into a Father's Day feature that ran nationwide on Saturday, June 14. It was quite a gift.
Click the link above to read and/or listen to this piece from Weekend America
Click here to see the complete collection of Best Stories You've nEver Read.
-- Dick Weiss
Entrapment
Citizen blogger scores two political exclusives with questionable tactics
Bill Clinton made some unkind remarks about a Vanity Fair writer to a person who he thought was a party of one. Instead it was Mayhill Fowler, a citizen blogger who shared her audio tape with the world. Who makes the rules for people like Ms. Fowler? Dick Weiss talks it over with McGraw Milhaven on the McGraw Show on KTRS (550-AM).
Dick's media segment airs each Monday at 11:05 a.m.
Click on the link above to listen to or download the podcast.
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The Best Stories You've nEver Read #52
Sex for a married couple every day of the year -- New York Times
I can't sell this story any better than New York Times scribe Ralph Gardner did with this opener:
"Let's say you and your spouse haven’t had sex in so long that you can’t remember the last time you did. Not the day. Not the month. Maybe not even the season. Would you look for gratification elsewhere? Would you file for divorce? Or would you turn to your mate and say, 'Honey, you know, I’ve been thinking. Why don’t we do it for the next 365 days in a row?'"
Click the link above to read this piece from the Times.
Click here to see the complete collection of Best Stories You've nEver Read.
-- Dick Weiss
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #51
Comeback for the $100,000 home -- Minneapolis Star Tribune
Good reporters learn to zig when others zag. Here reporter Michael Buchta found an upside to the flagging housing market: First-time buyers are finding a much broader selection of starter homes at affordable prices in the Twin Cities area. In fact, he reports the supply of homes in the so-called entry-level range of about $100,000 has increased sixfold in the last three years.
Click the link above to read this piece from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Click here to see the complete collection of Best Stories You've nEver Read.
-- Dick Weiss
From Sycophant To Ingrate
A failure as a public servant and a press secretary
Scott McClellan's new book is interesting and makes a useful contribution toward documenting what went on at the Bush White House. But that hardly makes him an admirable figure, Dick Weiss tells McGraw Milhaven on the McGraw Show on KTRS (550-AM).
Dick's media segment airs each Monday at 11:05 a.m.
Click on the link above to listen to or download the podcast.
Click here for a list of all podcasts
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #50
The only job I ever wanted -- Washington Post
Washington Post reporter/editor Stephen C. Fehr shares the angst as one of dozens of journalists leaving the Washington Post in a buyout. He speaks, I think, for more than himself. Last of a breed.
Click the link above to read this piece from the Washington Post.
Click here to see the complete collection of Best Stories You've nEver Read.
-- Dick Weiss
Hillary Sandbagged Over RFK Reference
An ill-timed, but not ill-tempered remark
Hillary Clinton's reference to Robert Kennedy's assassination made little sense historically or politically, but it was hardly worth the time and attention the nation's press gave it, media critic and St. Louis Beacon contributing editor Dick Weiss says on the McGraw Show on KTRS-550 AM.
Dick's media segment airs each Monday at 11:05 a.m.
Click on the link above to listen to or download the podcast.
Click here for a list of all podcasts
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #49
Reading this you may feel like you've come upon a terrible accident. Yet it's hard to avert your gaze or divert your attention from Emily Gould's account of her blogging life during which she has done a lot of oversharing about friends and lovers.
Click the link above to read this piece from the New York Times Magazine.
Click here to see the complete collection of Best Stories You've nEver Read.
-- Dick Weiss
Enough Already
As Hillary's hopes go a-glimmering she turns her fire away from Obama and on to the media. Also Patty Wente's troubles at KWMU get an airing in the Riverfront Times. Dick Weiss and McGraw Milhaven discuss these and other topics on the McGraw Show on KTRS-550 AM.
Dick's media segment airs each Monday at 11:05 a.m.
Click on the link above to listen to or download the podcast.
Click here for a list of all podcasts
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #48
Climbing a Ladder Made of Lipstick -- Los Angeles Times
Many immigrants are finding a path to the American dream through sales of Mary Kay cosmetics . It is, however, a long and winding road . And not everyone finds their way.
Click the link above to read this poignant piece by Molly Hennessy-Fiske of the Los Angeles Times.
Click here to see the complete collection of Best Stories You've nEver Read.
-- Dick Weiss
