mandy
MyVillage
Joined: 30 Mar 2007
Posts: 103
Location: London
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 Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 4:26 pm Post subject: MyVillage Style Guide |
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Editorial Rules, Tips & Hints
MyVillage Style
Wording:
• Words to avoid: funky, trendy, groovy, cool
• Steer! Clear! Of! Exclamation marks!
• Keep sentences and paragraphs short & punchy – easy to read
• Try to start each new article with a short 12 word punchy intro
• Avoid 'in my opinion', 'I think', 'me, personally,', 'that's why I like it' etc.
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Wordcount:
Events: 300-350 words
Features / Articles: up to 500 words
Interviews: between 800 – 1000 words
Reviews / Celeb Gossip: between 50 – 100 words
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Features / Articles should be:
• Never about typical tourist pastimes
• The sort of features that you would expect to read in Sunday Times Style magazine, Timeout, Metro, DJ, Guardian Guide…
• About subjects, people and places that everyone is talking about, before people are talking about them
• Always written from a personable, quirky, leftfield angle, with a good sense of humour
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Criteria for Bars, Pubs, Clubs Articles
• Stylish upmarket bars, ‘off the beaten track’ quirky, popular hangouts are all good. Boozers, ugly pubs, and chains not good
• We like superclubs, as well as underground clubs. We do not like cheesy clubs, unless there is some mileage in irony.
• Try to track down local ‘best kept secrets’ – the sort of place a tourist wouldn’t know about
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Criteria for Music Articles
• We like electro cutting edge break beats, chunky base and DJs, good guitar bands, indie- rock etc
• We do not like Mariah Carey and her ilk, boy/girl bands, cheesy chart, reality tv winners and old rockers UNLESS any of the latter can be wrote about in extreme irony
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Criteria for Celebrity Articles
• We like to write about new, young and beautiful celebs
• We also write about established, old and ugly celebs - we are not too fussy.
• For gossip – always write words like ‘allegedly’ and ‘apparently’ for any scandal. State source if quoting.
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Criteria for Restaurant / Food Articles
• You might spot a celebrity in the restaurant / cafe
• Yummy mummies will go there for lunch
• It’s THE local place to go for breakfast, lunch, dinner
• It has a quirky edge / theme / a celebrity chef / has just opened
• It is seasonal, topical and you want to eat it, try it, juice it
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Criteria for Event Articles
• People aspire to be part of this event
• It’s recognised as an established local event
• It can be quirky, weird and wonderful
• Film festivals, comedy festivals, arts events, music events are musts
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Criteria for What's On Articles
• Cutting edge theatre and exhibitions
• Scandalous ‘not for the faint hearted’ shows with plenty of sex, swearing and controversy
• Ignore musicals or long running West End theatre
• Go for installations, photography, quirky up and coming artists
• Local comedians, new names on the scene, the ‘next big thing’. Not Freddie Starr’s comeback tour. Sorry, Freddie.
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Criteria for Lifestyle Articles
• Original, very local, designer shops, never high street chains. It is THE place to go to buy vinyl, smart threads, etc
• It is fashionable, what people are wearing and ties in with what is the current trend
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Example Article Links
The World’s Pea Throwing Competition
The Carbon Issue
Celebrity Couples on Valentine's Day
Vinyl vs Digital
The Smoking Debate |
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