By ACN Member and Past Writer of the Year Miranda Reiman
“To be a good writer, you’ve got to read good writing.” I once heard that somewhere and took it to heart.
I read many of the good writers in this group. I read novels and non-fiction, and Bible studies. I read news and commentary. (I once even read my husband’s thesis, but I don’t think that counts for this discussion.)
The point is, I am certain it’s helped me polish my work, but I also think we could take that a step further: “To be a good writer, you should consult and brainstorm with great writers.”
People file into the Peer Review: A Panel with Writers of the Year session featuring
Gil Gullickson, Martha Mintz, Miranda Reiman, and Steve Werblow
at the 2022 Ag Media Summit.
(Courtesy: Chuck Zimmerman)
When ACN Past President Gil Gullickson, Member Steve Werblow, 2024 President-Elect Martha Mintz and I got together via Zoom to talk about our upcoming Ag Media Summit (AMS) peer review panel from writers of the year, I instantly felt an energy as we started swapping notes. We had stories behind the stories and advice mentors had passed along to us through the years. So, to harness that dynamic —and perhaps because we’d rather talk about good writing than create Power Points — we tried a roundtable discussion earlier this week at the 2022 Ag Media Summit.
ACN Past President Gil Gullickson (far left) speaks to the crowd inside the
“Peer Review: A Panel of Writers of the Year” session at the 2022 Ag Media Summit.
Joining him onstage are (from left to right) ACN Member Miranda Reiman,
ACN Member Steve Werblow, and ACN 2024 President Elect Martha Mintz.
(Courtesy: Chuck Zimmerman)
It really did our heart good to see so many familiar faces in the audience, but if you couldn’t make it, here are a few of the gems we shared:
“If you don’t get to a farm at least a half hour early, you’re SUNK.” ACN Member Harlen Persinger advised eager young minds at an AMS several years ago. Gullickson still thinks of that advice when he schedules a visit today. He drives by the farm, scouts out photo locations and gets a general lay of the land.
“I like to fly by the seat of my pants to a certain extent,” Mintz said. “Whenever I am scheduling interviews, I make a point of asking, ‘Okay, do I have to be here on this day? Or what days in this week are you available?’” That flexibility allows longer stays or the freedom to capture “found” story opportunities along the way.
A contest judge once told Gullickson, “You have to pull a reader into a complicated story kicking and screaming.” Whether that’s writing about Dicamba or a livestock lawsuit, that is the approach he takes: just jump right in to the controversy.
Reading helps expand your vocabulary, but you don’t have to make it complicated. “I think just listen to the words people use when they describe their own situation. I basically, in essence, let my sources give me the words and then just try to react to their description,” Werblow explained.
At The Furrow, they often write into a layout, which somewhat forces self-editing and economy of words, Mintz said. “It makes you think, ‘I’ve come this far, and I still haven’t gotten to some really important things,’ and you start cutting back…,” she said. “You will really find what is necessary in your story.”
Got writers block? Trying to perfect it before you put it on the page? “Don’t psych yourself out of writing,” Werblow advised. “So, in other words, write it. If you think it’s there, write it — don’t censor yourself before you write it down.”
Read your stories out loud. I think we all nodded our heads at this tip. It is one of the easiest, most important tools for article flow. I noted a national reporter once told an AMS crowd that he could walk into any newsroom and tell you who were the best writers, simply based on who were moving their lips.
During the course of the hour, we found out that if you see Gullickson out riding his bike or me mowing my lawn, we might actually be writing in our heads. If Werblow meets you incidentally on his travels or if Mintz asks you to be the secondary quote in a story, you may find yourself as the lead character in another one. And we learned that it’s a whole lot of fun to talk shop with other writers.
We hope those who spent their hour with us enjoyed it as much as we did. Who’s ready for AMS 2023?!
Miranda Reiman, senior associate editor with Angus Media, works on print and digital content for both the Angus Journal and the Angus Beef Bulletin.