Textbook: An in-progress table of contents

I hope you’re enjoying and making use of our Textbook series here on the B/R Blog.

The idea is that we are slowly building a textbook for Bleacher Report writers, with a new “chapter” appearing weekly, on Tuesday morning. In a few weeks, we’ll have enough chapters to put up a proper table of contents page, with the links organized as a paper-and-ink textbook’s table of contents would be.

Eventually, in the spirit of your favorite institution of higher learning, we’ll package the whole thing up and sell it to you for about 10 times what you’d be willing to pay for it if you weren’t being compelled to buy it by your professor. Business model!

In the meantime, here’s a quick guide to what’s been published so far by Bleacher Report’s resident experts, in conceptual, rather than chronological, order:

How do you know what you should write about? Before you can write, you have to answer this question, and Rory Brown guides you through the process.

How to write the perfect Bleacher Report headline The old school says the headline is the last thing you write. At Bleacher Report, we advise writing it first. Tim Wood explains why, and how to do it, and how the Art of the Headline is a different thing online than elsewhere.

How to write a good lede Once you get going, the most important part of your article is the beginning. Read this, then go forth and dominate.

Choosing the right picture for your story The web is a visual medium, and that fuzzy, pixelated shot of the Western Hemisphere with the subject of your story partially obscured second from left behind the Eiffel Tower is not doing anything for you. Evan Adrian explains what you should be looking for.

Attribution, citing sources and avoiding plagiarism This post by copy chief Dan Bonato could be first in this list, or it could be in the middle. That’s because you should be thinking about these issues not just after you’ve finished writing, but before you start and while you’re doing it.

Coming up tomorrow, Bailey Brautigan will have a follow-up to Rory Brown’s piece. She’ll show you how to help readers find exactly what they’re searching for.