WRITING
YEARBOOK
COPY
The Basics of Traditional
Copy
FIRST, LET’S AGREE…
…that yearbooks need words in
addition to pictures to tell the
complete story of the year.
THINK ABOUT IT
The yearbook is the only permanent
written record of the school year.
DESPITE
WHAT SOME SAY…
…if you write great copy, they will
read it.
Here are six tips for writing amazing
copy:
TIP #1:
DO YOUR HOMEWORK
•Research
•Interview
•Be there
TIP #2:
DEVELOP A FEATURE ANGLE
•Find a focus
TIP #3:
GRAB ‘EM WITH THE LEAD
•You’ve only got a few words to get
their attention
•Focus on what’s most interesting
•Avoid “this year” and vague words
like “many”
TYPES OF LEADS
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Allusion
Compare/contrast
Descriptive
Direct quotation
Narrative hook
Shocking statement
Suspense/teaser
ALLUSION
• Alluding to a familiar person, event,
line or song
• To be effective, the allusion must
be familiar enough for the audience
to recognize
It looked like an episode of “Friday Night Lights.”As
the Trojans took the field against arch-rival
Okemos, the fans erupted, filling the stadium with
noise.
COMPARE/CONTRAST
• Points out opposites or extremes
She stands a mere five feet, one inch, a full foot
shorter than most of her teammates. But junior
Samantha Smith towers over the rest of the varsity
football team when it comes to kicking ability.
DESCRIPTIVE
• Paints a vivid word picture by
describing sights, sounds, smells,
tastes and feels
Smells of sweaty bodies punctuated the steamy
locker room as players hung their heads, slumping
in silence after their loss to Hudson.
DIRECT QUOTATION
• Uses a direct quotation
• To be effective, it must be a
powerful, memorable quote
“I heard my shin bone crack and knew that my
season was over,” senior Joe Jones said.
NARRATIVE HOOK
• Create a situation
• Can be either factual or fictional
As the rain dripped off his helmet, senior Ryan Holt
watched the final play of the game against Mason. After
three years as part of the starting line, his high school
football career had ended.
SHOCKING
STATEMENT
• Uses an unusual or shocking fact
• Aims to catch the reader off guard
Three sprained ankles, a broken arm, two concussions and
one heat stroke. All were the result of the first week of
varsity football practice.
SUSPENSE/TEASER
• Holds back on the main focus of the
story to build suspense
It started as a sprinkle, then built to a shower and finally
became a downpour. The rumble of thunder, distant at
first, became louder. With just three minutes left, the refs
postponed the game.
TIP #4:
ADD LIFE WITH ACTIVE VOICE
AND GREAT QUOTES
•Say “John scored the
touchdown,”not “The touchdown
was scored by John.”
•Give students a voice --- and get
more of them in the book
•Be sure the quotes are meaningful
TIP #5:
KEEP YOUR OPINIONS TO
YOURSELF
•Present the details and the facts
without commenting on them
•Be careful of adjectives and adverbs
that offer an opinion
TIP #6:
REMEMBER, YOU’RE RECORDING
HISTORY
•Write in past tense
•Write in third person
•Include specific details like names,
dates, scores, costs
TIP #7:
WRITE TIGHT
•Keep sentences simple
•Keep paragraphs short
•Keep the fluff out
TIP #8:
CONCLUDE WITH POWER
•Use stylistic devices or information
from your lead to bring the readers full
circle
•Find the perfect summarizing quote
1 OR 2 MORE THINGS
• Learn from the professionals
• Practice
• Be open to revision and editing
GO FORTH AND WRITE
…yearbook copy that’s
grammatically correct and wellthought out. Your third-person, pasttense stories should have specific
angles that tie them to the school and
the coverage year. The best of the
best begin with enticing leads and
are filled with great quotes from a
variety of sources and specific details
that add to the photos and captions
to create the complete story of the
year.
WRITING
YEARBOOK COPY
created in conjunction with
Lynn Strause
Herff Jones Special Consultant