Working Fast

A guide to getting the job done when you don't have time to think.

Prepare and plan

• The more you know, the better it will go.
  
• Know what you don't know and what you need to know. Make notes of questions you need to have answered.
  
• Save information you may need later-not on your desk, but where you can find it. Use a system that works for you: subject files, three-ring binders, computer notes.
  
• Keep scripts and notes, and best tape-you may need them.
  
• Create your own "futures" file.
  
• File and update your phone list every day. (Note information about sources that may help you connect with them again.)
  

Take good notes

• Notes should be clear enough to read-imagine you're in television and you have to go live.
  
• Mark all good quotes, then narrow the list.
  
• Use a tape recorder so you can get exact quotes, verbatim.
  

Focus in the field

• Be open to new angles, perspectives, points of view.
  
• Find the story within the assignment or topic you are covering.
  

Think as a team

• Brainstorm with colleagues, especially reporters and photographers.
  
• Use time in the car to plan, not to complain. Find a way to care.
  

Write as you go

• Find a focus in the field.
  
• Jot down descriptions or explanations that you can use almost verbatim.
  
• Make note of themes, connections. Put what you're thinking in brackets.

Organize

• Select elements that fit your focus. Ditch the rest.
  
• Choose quotes for subjective information: opinion, reaction, experience, emotion.
  
• Put the elements into blocks (what goes with what?), then organize them in sequence.
  
• Make an outline, even if it's just a word or two on a line.
  
• Find the thread that holds the story together, then string the pearls.
  
• Know where you are going before you start. Have a strong ending.