There are several ways to communicate your school’s story through design and photography; however, the most effective way to share your message is through writing. The stories in your yearbook are important and we want to see them captivate an audience. We have the resources and strategies to help you along the way!
find the story
Find your angle that is unique to the school year. It would be easy to create repeating summaries of sports team records or plays and musicals performed each year. Instead, dive deeper and find what made the performance or season unique to this year compared to previous ones.
As a writer, think about what would make you want to read the story. Start with a strong narrative outline of what’s to come, then use supporting elements like the title or photograph to help illustrate the story itself.
Take a moment to consider all the different places in the yearbook where you will include writing. Your caption writing, headlines, ads, and mods will all include different styles that, with a little practice, will be punchy and eye-catching. Remember that your marketing materials can also highlight your writing when promoting your directory. Visit here to explore your options.
It might seem like a lot, but we’ve got the tools and resources to help you take your writing to the next level in every category.
Evaluate your directory
The first step to improving your writing is to do an honest assessment of what it was like last year. How would you rate it?
Once you’ve given yourself a letter grade and identified areas you want to improve, dive into ourDirectory Suite. We have an interview program to help you get better quotes, captions and titles to inform and intrigue the reader, editing so your writing is polished and professional and, of course, writing so you can effectively communicate your message.
If you enjoy learning by listening, we recommend watching our latest webinar, Introduce it with special guest Susan Massy, Yearbook Advisor at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School. You can also consult the replay of Get the Next Big Story webinar.
Don’t forget to show your captions some love with theWrite Yearbook Captions That Will Captivate an eBook.It will give you a simple formula for informative and engaging captions. We also have this helpful blog and video lesson plan for teaching subtitleshere.
We also have a great blog for beginners to understand how to write a profile story in this bloghere.
Once you’re confident in your writing ability, it’s time to think about writing in your theme settings. Although it sounds simple, it has a big impact on your book, so give it your all. You can see great examples of theme copy by going to ourTheme Galleryfor inspiration.
We can’t wait to see what you come up with this year! As always, one of your best resources is your Walsworth representative, so talk to them about what’s best for your school and get some samples.
