10 Tips for Profile Pieces

1. To prevent a reader from being bored, switch up the scene by incorporating relevant dialogue
ie: The writer of “The Longing” incorporated quotes from both Suzi and people who know her/know of her such as Nancy Hamilton
2. Increase the pace of the story in order to prevent predictability.
3. Use the 5 W’s in your piece. It is not essential to cram all of this information into the first sentence, just let the information weave itself together early in your article.
4. Let people be the “captain” of their story and you are the guiding navigator
5. Vary sentence structure often as to make your story more realistic and engaging
6. Try to get the true emotions behind the person’s story and include quotes that convey these emotions
7. Create images for the reader to expand on in their minds as they are reading (pg 82 paragraph 5).
8. “The Longing” switches scenes very often and goes back and forth between her younger self and her current self. This helps keep readers interested and engaged
9. Add depth to your profile and do not narrow a person down to one part of their life (ie: their job, their awards/recognitions) focus on capturing the person as a whole by finding out their roots, past experiences, goals, ambitions, downfalls
10. Use trial and error. Try new things such in the longing, where the writer is not writing for the audience, the writer is actually a part of the person he is profiling. He is in her mind, experiencing her experiences and feeling her feelings.