Final Guideline for writing UWC book article

Final Guideline

1. Suggested format:
i. Interview (written in essay form): you (journalist) interview a selected interviewee (alumni / principals / teachers / students, etc). Suitable for interviewees who need guidance for presenting ideas & who lack time to write articles by himself/herself.
a. Example: http://www.uwc.org/gp_twan
b. You must consider “Tips for your articles” in Point 8 to write your article
ii. Interview (written in dialogue): interviewees & you formulate the content in dialogue format (e.g. Q&A, msn dialogue). A more lively method.
a. Example: Q&A format: http://www.soapsonabc.com/2008/02/02/general-hospital-sarah-brown-q-a-interview/ and MSN dialogue format: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/812079.html
b. You must consider “Tips for your articles” in Point 7 to write your article
iii. Self-written: alumni / principals / teachers / students write the article with guidance from an editor (of our group). Good for those who can present his/her ideas clearly in written form.
a. Example: http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2006/10/let-me-splain-myself.html
b. You must consider “Tips for your articles” in Point 7 to write your article
iv. Round-table interview: a group of interviewees discuss on selected topic(s). Use this method if interviewees’ interaction can produce spackles & inspiring ideas. A moderator is present and you (journalist) should write the article.
a. Example: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6261414.html
b. You must consider “Tips for your articles” in Point 7 to write your article

2. Method of interview / information exchange: in person / telephone / email / msn…..any kind you (journalist) think is effective

3. Style: No specific requirement. Should be set according to the way the journalist/writer intend to present and the content of the article. Possible styles can be formal, casual, funny or lively

4. Language Medium: Chinese (in Proper/Formal Chinese, no Cantonese please!)

5. Presentation way: Words + Photos

6. No of words: about 2,000 – 2,500 words (Chinese characters with punctuation marks included)

7. No of photos: at least 10 (should be very eye-catching!).

8. Graphic design: You (journalist) DO NOT NEED to do any graphic design of your chapter/article. What you need to do is to submit article + at least 10 photos to our designated designer. However, you can help by matching each photo with corresponding paragraph in your article. Tell the designer your ideas in written form. He/she will help you for the design.

9. Tips for excellent articles
All articles MUST include the following:
i. Creative chapter title
ii. Sub-titles (副題) in between paragraphs
iii. Must-know knowledge (小知識) or Useful tips (小錦囊) like in-depth info, interesting facts, personal insight. E.g. When the article is mentioning about “IB”, we suppose that our readers, who are general public, may not know what it means. So please provide some “must-know knowledge” like a sentence or two about IB and include the official website. Do not put the knowledge in the content but on either left or right hand side of a page, preferably in smaller font.
iv. Figures, tables & charts
v. Interviewees bios (similar to CV but in short form): maximum 10 items (either working experience, educational attainment, award or all of them)


Workflow:
Selection of topics (by journalist)
Develop article framework and interview questions (discussion between journalist and editor)
Interview / self-written stage / round table (by journalist)
Writing + selection of photos (by journalist)
Draft Submission (from journalist to editor)
Feedback for redrafting (from editor to journalist)
Submission to interviewee if necessary (by journalist)
Submission to graphic designer (by journalist) + graphic design (by graphic designers)
Submission to chief editor (by graphic designer)
Publishing
Feedback for redrafting (from editor to journalist)

First draft on 2008.6.25
Updated on 2008.6.30

Conclusion on Use of Language

This is James again.

We have had a nice dinner yesterday (29 June 2008) and our group has come to the conclusion about the use of language of our book.

In respond to the need of readers and book disturbutors, we agree to have the book in Chinese.

We are sorry for those who wish to write in English. Please find help from those who can translate. If you find problems on this, please let our committee know. We will try our best to help.

We will consider to have another book in English if resources allow. However, we shall focus on the current book at the moment.

Thanks.