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.
WeissWrite On The Air
I Want To Be Connie Schultz When I Grow Up
Jack Hart: A Writer's Coach
Don't Drink & Drive; Don't Drink & Write; Don't Drink & Edit
A Model Press Release
Public relations people often ask what it takes to get a newspaper's attention. "How can I get my client's story on the front page?"
Here's a press release that worked. No fancy literary tricks here, but it does the job. It worked so well, that the editor who assigned the story was led to say, "I don't like to make assignments based on a press release. But this one is a no-brainer. Who do we have that can work this story?"
The key element here: The press release tells a story... a small drama with a beginning, middle and a satisfying conclusion.
The Homefront
Sarah Colwell's first-person series inThe Gazette of Colorado Springs takes you into the world of a soldier's wife in interesting and unexpected ways.
Sarah's Series: Part 1
One of the most gratifying aspects of my work with writers -- beyond the wordsmithing -- is to give them a sense of possibility. Simply put, I want them to try stuff. I met Sarah Colwell at a journalism workshop sponsored by the Reynolds Center for Business Journalism. She e-mailed me later and asked if I would help her with a few business stories. During the course of our conversations, she mentioned that she had a husband deployed in Iraq.
"You ought to write about that," I said.
McGraw Show Podcast 3-2-07
McGraw Show Podcast 2-16-07
McGraw Show Podcast 2-23-07
Sellout!
But Not For Long...
Fran Alberti's children's story about Hurricane Katrina is now in its second printing after an outpouring of support in St. Louis
Order the book
Thanks to the interest and generosity of hundreds of St. Louisans, New Orleans hurricane survivor Bobby Alberti and his dog, Rover, are well on the way to restoring their home. Bobby's sister, Fran Alberti, wrote a children's book called "Finding Rover," as a means of helping Bobby and Rover who were rescued from a rooftop during Katrina in late August, 2005.
Fran took a huge risk. She had never written a book before -- actually had never done much writing as she's a secretary for an oil company executive. She personally financed the printing of 1000 books -- and has sold them all after a visit to St. Louis where readers snapped up the last several hundred. Now, as they say in Vegas, Fran's going to double down with another printing because she left St. Louis with many more orders.
Read Sylvester Brown's column about the book
Watch KSDK's report on Fran's visit.
Listen to an interview with Fran, Dick Weiss and Tim Rickey of the Humane Society of Missouri. They talked about animal rescue efforts with KWMU's Don Marsh.
