Journalism students need to
know how to take good notes. We're communicators of others' words, so
we often have to write down what they say and then write about it. And
of course, we have to be able to read our own notes. Such skills are
are also
invaluable in the classroom. Here are some tips.
* Develop your own note-taking system. Use abbreviations. Make them up.
* Jot a question mark or a big "Q" in the margin if you need to clarify a point before the interview ends.
* Always put quotation marks around direct quotes. Don't fixate on quotes.
* If the subject is saying something you won't use or aren't interested in, don't write it down.
* Re-read your notes immediately after the interview.
Excerpts from: http://weblogs.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/journ1/2003/05/01
You are not a court reporter, trying to transcribe every word of an interview or event. You're a newspaper reporter, seeking to capture the important and interesting essence of the interview or event. Start making your judgments about what's interesting or important as you take notes. Don't waste energy or paper taking notes on things that you know aren't important or interesting enough for the story.
When you're gathering information, you must get numbers, names and spellings correct. But the speaker's exact words aren't important, because information-bearing quotes usually aren't strong quotes. Concentrate on getting the facts correct, rather than the words with which the speaker delivered them.
If the speaker is giving information, slow her down by asking for details or sources. How do you know that? Are you sure? How's that spelled? Is that an approximation or the exact amount? Do you have some documentation? Don't hesitate to ask someone to pause for a second while you write down a quote verbatim. People appreciate efforts to be accurate.
Echo the speaker to slow her down: "You said 15 million, right, one-five million, with an M?"
Maybe the source said something important, but it followed a powerful quote you were still scribbling down and you're not sure you got the second quote. Repeat what you thought you heard back to the source: "Let me make sure I understand this correctly. Did you say ...?" This gives you confirmation of the information and buys you time to take the notes. And maybe he will elaborate or say it stronger.
When you start falling behind, ask a "throwaway" question about general background that you already have or personal information you don't care much about. This gives you a chance to catch up on your notes before you forget the important or interesting things the source just said.
Ask the source for the documents, photographs, videos and other items that tell more about her and what she is telling you. Go through them with her and take notes. Ask her if you can borrow or copy them.
Write down details about the source's home or office or about the room where the event takes place. If it's outside, take note of the weather. Write a paragraph or two about the setting if you have time. Ask the source about items you notice in the home or office.
With a word or two and a question mark, note what questions you asked.
If you're interviewing multiple sources at once or covering an event with multiple speakers, come up with a code to keep the speakers clear in your notes. Initials work, but beware of speakers with the same initials. If you have multiple speakers at an event and don't have names, write physical descriptions and come up with initials based on them: B for the man in the blue shirt; T for the tall woman, etc. Then get the ID's straight as quickly as possible after the event.
Don't write just what you hear. Note what you see and smell, even what you feel and taste if those senses help tell the story. If the source raises his voice or starts to cry, write briefly what prompted the emotion and how the source reacted. Note your own emotions, too, and emotions of spectators. What was the most emotional moment of the event? How did people show the emotions?
As important as your notes are, your story is in front of you, not in your notebook. Look up and don't just listen and write.
Review your notes.
Immediately after the event or interview, review your notes. Do this even before you get back to the newsroom, when you're in your car or in the lobby of the building where the event took place. Where your scribbling is nearly illegible, write the words out neatly while they're still fresh in your mind. Fill out the partial quotes while you still remember them. Identify points to check with other sources. If a particular passage or a possible lede came to you during the interview, write it down immediately. As often as practical, type notes into the computer. It's then easy to move a great quote, or a reasonably well composed graf, into your text as you write.
Before you write, go through your notes and "outline" them, highlighting the good quotes or the important points. Mark related information with the same letter or code so you start to organize the material scattered through your notes. Take time to review your notes and do an outline. Try a 1-2-3 approach: What's the beginning, middle and end of this story? Sometimes the "outline" might only be three or four words.
Even if you're not ready to write the full story, write what you have so far. This makes the best use of your notes by moving as quickly as possible from them to an actual story.
If you're writing and you can't make out something in your notes that you think was important, call the source back. You can say, "I thought this was what you said, but I just wanted to be sure." She may confirm, correct or elaborate. And she might tell you a couple things she thought of after the interview, stimulated in thought or memory by your questions.
Excerpted from: Steve Buttry, Writing Coach, Omaha World-Herald
http://www.notrain-nogain.org/Train/Res/Report/scrib.asp
* Use a notepad with narrow columns.
Using a notepad with narrow columnscuts the time needed to move from the end of one line to the beginning of the next. A sharp, comfortable pen speeds writing; felt-tips can smudge and drag. If time allows, use pens of different inks to distinguish between speakers or interviews.
* Invent your own shorthand or speedwriting.
Improve speed and accuracy by inventing your own shorthand or speedwriting. Use a period for "the," a comma for "is." Identify the most common words on your beat and abbreviate them (example: U for university). Try one new shortcut until you get comfortable, and then add more to your repertoire. Books on speedwriting and shorthand offer simple exercises to turn long words into a few swift strokes.
* Use Post-It notes.
They're great for listing questions. They can be easily moved and can be used for follow-up questions as the reporting progresses.
* Flag the important.
When you hear that great quote, put a star next to it, or a bracket or squiggle.
Excerpted from: "Take Note of This," a workshop handout by Michelle Hiskey and Maria Saporta, staff writers for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: http://www.notrain-nogain.com/Train/Res/Report/note.asp
Always use a laptop. Open the simplest text-only program you have, then let those fingers fly and type while they talk. Later, you can cut and paste the best quotes or paraphrases and add the transitions.You can email the notes to yourself or use a memory stick to get the text from one computer and into another to file stories.
I can type much faster than I write. It's easy to read typing, but sometimes we scribble so fast we can't read our own writing even two or three hours after an interview. Also, if you're a good typist, the accuracy is better than longhand.
Lana F. Flowers
Don't try to write everything. Listen for the good quote and then let them ramble while you write that one down the one good quote verbatim.
Then start listening for the next good quote.
Ask them to expand on those quotes too. Even if you understood what they meant, ask: "What did you mean when you said ....?"
Ask them to repeat themselves (or to slow down) if it's a situation where that is permissible.
If they phrase something awkwardly, ask them to rephrase it to make sure you understood what they meant. Likewise, if you think they said something opposite of what they intended to say, ask them to be safe.
I find a small reporter's notepad forces me to pay more attention to notes I take because I have less room on a page, and I think the interviewee also gets a better sense of your writing pace if you have to flip pages every few seconds.
Tape recorder as backup. Don't use it as primary because it often fails.
Charlie Alison
I also use special marks to identify direct quotes. I always take those down word for word.
In meetings with many speakers, I assign them numbers or just use their initials, those are quicker to write. before the meeting starts or afterwards I write out a key for who's who.
If there is something I want to come back to later in the interview or after the meeting, I'll put a big star or other mark next to the note in my book. I always check all the pages before I leave to make sure I've covered all my stars.
Notes are just memory aides. As quickly as possible I get the information from the notepad into the computer before I forget what my markings represent.
I always carry extra pens and a pencil (I've had more than one pen freeze up on me covering outdoor things in the winter).
I almost never use a recorder. When I've really wanted to use one they have messed up on me or my speaker mumbled or talked lowly. They also tend to make some people more nervous. Besides, who wants to sit through a long meeting or interview twice? That's what happens with you record it, you have to sit through it again to get your quotes and other notes.
Stacey Roberts
If interviewing, ask a "dummy" question that you don't really need the answer to if you need time to catch up on your notes.
Flip Putthoff
Highlight typed notes from phone interviews in the same way &endash; immediately after interview is done.
Don't be afraid the ask sources to repeat the best stuff - if you missed it
Do technical interviews on the phone, so you can type notes - or do follow-up questions on technical points over the phone as time permits, again so you can type notes.
Jennifer Cook
I assume that all the notes I am taking are quotes. Unless I put parentheses around the note, then I am telling myself that it is a paraphrase.
I use different colors when taking notes. That is, say I use blue to write my notes on a meeting. If I have a question I can't just stop the meeting and ask it. So I take a different color, say red, and circle the area or maybe write out the question. If it is that important, it is worth putting down one pen and picking iup the other. Otherwise, I may forget what questions to ask later on.
Richard Dean Prudenti
Kim Martin
2 If you are going to abbreviate (and I recommend it) make sure you understand it - maybe put a key at the end of your notes ASAP if any abbr. may be unclear later.)
Beckie Tyson
Dave Edmark
B/4 = before
bc = because
Any word that ends in &endash;tion or &endash;ing, use "j" (usually just a downward stroke &endash; I don't dot the j.)
motivaj = motivation
creatj = creating
You can usually tell from the context whether it's &endash;tion or -ing, or it doesn't matter
A circle with a slash through it for "not"
If you know some of the popular shorthand for text-messaging, some might be useful:
IMO = in my opinion
BTW = by the way
ASAP = As soon as possible
EOD = End of day
ETA = Estimated time of arrival
IRT = In regards to
NA = Not acceptable/applicable
POV = Point of view
SRO = Standing room only
TOM = Tomorrow
TNX or TKS = Thanks
Abbreviations for words
1 = one, won, want
2 = To, too
4 = For
8 = ate
Y = Why
M = Am
N = An, and
NE = Any
R = Are
U = You
O = Oh
K = OK
YER = Your, you're