#ledeoftheweek

[crystalrussellseditingblog-blog]

Journal Eight: Lede of the Week

Okay this writer is pretty good. My lede comes from the same article as my passage. Tia Goldenberg is her name. Here's her lede:

"When he drives around east Jerusalem, taxi driver Samer al-Risheq doesn't use GPS and tucks away his maps. In many parts on this side of the city, those tools are useless: The streets have no names." 

A clever way of introducing the no name issue of Jerusalem, from a taxi driver's perspective. She thinks outside the box. :) But as an editor, I'm always looking to improve. I would want the lede to pack more punch and be more succinct. I would have said: 

"When he drives around east Jerusalem, taxi driver Samer al-Risheq doesn't use GPS. Those tools are useless: The streets have no names.

[crystalrussellseditingblog-blog]

Journal Seven: Lede and Graph of the Week

Source - The New York Times

Date - Oct. 23, 2012

Lede - "It is afternoon in a hardwood forest on the edge of the Cumberland Plateau, and the cicadas are singing." 

This lede comes from a story titled "Finding Zen in a Patch of Nature." The article is about a both poetic and science-driven scientist and author. David Haskell, biologist, explores one specific opening of a forest in Tennessee and documents everything he observes in a new, and unique, less data-driven way. I like this lede because it's simple and to the point. It's very descriptive and metaphorical.

Graph - There are a few lines from this article that I just loved. It's really well written, by James Gorman. I also loved this story because it takes place in Tennessee!

"But to him, the noise is biological alchemy, sunlight into sound."

"He thinks like a biologist, writes like a poet, and gives the natural world the kind of open-minded attention one expects from a Zen monk rather than a hypothesis-driven scientist."

The next sentence describes his wife: "...Ms. Vance, a biologist, artist, goat keeper and soap maker." I think Gorman describes her in the way that Haskell probably would have, picking out things about her that he loved and drew him to her. She sounds like a sweet and fun person.

[crystalrussellseditingblog-blog]

Journal Six: Lede of the Week

Source - Vogue: Oct. 2012 edition

Article - Poise & Passion 

Lede - "Keira Knightley is drinking herbal tea in a downtown New York apartment so meagerly furnished that a dance troupe could polka through it without missing a step."

I liked this lede because it packed so much description and information in the first sentence in an attention-grabbing, quirky way. I could immediately picture Knightley and her apartment, and the polka reference is a fun way of drawing readers in.

[crystalrussellseditingblog-blog]

Journal Three: Lede of the Week

Source - Washington Post

Date - Aug. 10, 2012

Link - http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/dog-heaven-in-vermont/2012/08/09/a423acb4-cd1c-11e1-8bcb-202fdaafb096_story.html

While cruising the Washinton Post's website, I came across a quirky article. The headline reads, "Dog Heaven in Vermont."

Lede - "It seems strange to go to a 150-acre dog lover's attraction without a dog."

I like this headline because it points out the ironic. The article goes on to say that it's a playground for dog owners whose dogs are still alive, and a resting place for dog owners to visit their dogs who have passed on to doggy heaven.