What's a Pitch Slam? It's an event at which writers have 60 seconds to impress a panel of editors with their story ideas, and, if they succeed, win an assignment. It's among the weekend's highlights at ScienceWriters2012 in Raleigh, N.C.. Session organizer Jeanne Erdmann offers some tips for would-be pitchers on The Open Notebook site: "Editors love a good pitch, and they love meeting new writers who can deliver a tantalizing story idea."
Science writing news
M.J. Rose offers a list of 11 "Don'ts" to complement the usual "Do's" in this post on a blog called Buzz, Balls & Hype. A sample: "Don't plan readings for bookstores that include you reading all 20 pages of the first chapter unless you're a stand up comic and there is only one joke on each page." Also: Don't spend all your money on a marketing trailer, or a website, or "an antique sports car, diamonds by the yard or a bottle of wine from Thomas Jefferson's cellar."
The Knight-Mozilla OpenNews project's Source feature is perfect for reporters who want to venture into programming but aren't sure where to start, Ryan Lytle writes on 10,000 Words. It includes an index of contributed code samples, but Lytle says: "Where I think most journalists will get the greatest benefit ... is getting some background information on how some of these projects were put together, from the initial idea to site implementation."
Questions? A new page has been posted to update attendees traveling to ScienceWriters2012. Please click here for travel, event, and shuttle details. If you missed out on registration for this year's meeting, stay tuned to sciencewriters2012.org or follow #sciwri12 for updates during the meeting.
Kathleen Raven was writing about an Alzheimer's drug when she asked for comment from an analyst who foresaw its failure in late-stage trials. His response: "I’m sorry, I don’t talk to the media." He wasn't the only source who clammed up, Raven writes on Embargo Watch. Their excuses: "Some said they consulted for the drug company ... Another explained he simply didn't have time to give an interview. Yet another potential source gave no explanation and simply hung up."
Scene, character, and detail are at the center of the narrative writer's craft, and Nieman Storyboard has reposted excerpts from three master writers and editors: Walt Harrington, Laurie Hertzel, and Rick Meyer. Writes Harrington: "Keep in mind the goal of having as few quotes as possible from people who are speaking to no one in the story except the reporter – in other words, the narrator. In fictional stories, subjects do not talk to the omniscient narrator."
More meningitis and more deaths — and probably more on the way. The new, industrial-strength, compounding pharmacy. "A spectacular failure of consumer protection." Who should regulate compounding pharmacies? A neurosurgeon claims meningitis took him to heaven. And then, big surprise, he wrote a book about it. A neurologist explains what really happened. NASW meeting next week, @ScienceWriters, #sciwri12. How to write and market science and medical ebooks.
Steve Buttry has posted a Twitter tutorial for absolute beginners, complete with screenshots. It covers, among other things, opening a Twitter account, setting up your account preferences, composing your first "tweets," finding people to follow, and managing your incoming tweets: "One of the most important things to do is monitor your “mentions,” which will be tweets where someone uses your @username, either replying to you, retweeting you or talking about you."
In honor of Ada Lovelace Day, Ed Yong posts his picks for the top 15 women science writers, then adds 25 honorable mentions, and still others in the comments. The lists include many NASW members, and as Ed writes, "this is not a list of top female science writers; this is an all-female list of top science writers." More background on Ada and other notable women scientists, both from the Guardian.