EVERY WRITER NEEDS AN EDITOR. Some are fortunate to have good ones; others have bad ones, and many have none at all. If you are in the latter two categories, Dick Weiss can help.
Dick offers workshops and provides one-on-one coaching in person or by e-mail for journalists, freelance writers, students, communications professionals, and those who have simply got a story to tell.
Dick has 30 years experience as an award winning reporter, editor and writing coach, most of them at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Visit "About WeissWrite" for a bio and writing samples.
Before Ferguson/Beyond Ferguson
We are at work on a racial equity project. Click on the link to download the first chapter highlighting the challenges St. Louis families have faced over many generations in getting a quality education and securing their purchase on the American Dream. This story and others to follow from a team of reporters, photographers and presentation specialists grew from my work with Forward Through Ferguson, an organization formed in the wake of social unrest and with the goal of achieving racial equity in our region. I have moved on from FTF but continue to believe in using stories as catalysts for change.
These stories are meant to shine a light, engage the mind, touch the heart and serve as a call to action.
We start with the Caldwell family. We will tell of experiences like theirs not just in print but in other dynamic ways. We’ll take our stories and the family members involved into homes, community centers and places of worship. We will promote the concept of #onethingyoucando so that after engaging with our stories, our new friends can begin their own social justice work.
We are identifying sponsors who will help us convene meetings and donors who will financially support the effort. Please join us.
-- Dick Weiss, weisswrite@gmail.com
The Katrina Animal Rescue Effort
Pets have played a large role in my life as a writer. Here's an example of a tale (tail) I told about the Humane Society of Missouri's rescue effort during Hurricane Katrina.
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #108
Tiger's real crime: Not playing the media's game -- Fox Sports
The Tiger scandal has the sports media formng a circular firing squad. Read Jason Whitlock's take, then click the link in his story to read Charlie Pierce's story with another point of view.
Click the link above to read the story.
Click here to see the complete collection of Best Stories You've nEver Read.
-- Dick Weiss
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #107
In this magazine excerpt from The Walrus, journalist Alex Hutchinson advances the theory that the GPS may be harming our cognitive abilities.
Click the link above to read the story.
Click here to see the complete collection of Best Stories You've nEver Read.
-- Dick Weiss
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #106
"Open" by Andre Agassi -- Sports Illustrated
The retired tennis star invites us to share his demons. Raw and authentic. Agassi collaborated with Pulitzer Prize winner and former LA Times reporter J.R. Moehringer on the book.Sports Illustrated provides an excerpt.
Click the link above to read the story.
Click here to see the complete collection of Best Stories You've nEver Read.
-- Dick Weiss
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #105
The reconstruction of American journalism -- Columbia Journalism Review
Click the link above to read the story.
Click here to see the complete collection of Best Stories You've nEver Read.
-- Dick Weiss
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #104
How different are football and dogfighting -- The New Yorker
Click the link above to read the story.
Click here to see the complete collection of Best Stories You've nEver Read.
-- Dick Weiss
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #103
Technology adds to raucous tradition -- Washington Post
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Click here to see the complete collection of Best Stories You've nEver Read.
-- Dick Weiss
Playing with fire
It's important to know what you don't know when it comes to matters of race. Both the Belleville police and the media should have taken a deep breath and asked lots of questions before running with the story about two African-American students assaulting a white student on a bus, Dick Weiss tells McGraw Milhaven on the McGraw Show on KTRS-AM (550).Dick's media segment airs each Monday at 8:35 a.m.
Click on the link above to listen to or download the podcast.
Click here for a list of all podcasts
The Best Stories You've nEver Read #101
Stop and take a deep breath before telling another little lie to make your friends and family feel better about themselves and you. You might be doing everyone a favor by sharing the truth -- even if it hurts. That's what self-styled honesty guru Brad Blanton tells author A.J. Jacobs. Jacobs follows the advice with mixed results.
Click the link above to read an excerpt from Jacobs' book., The Guinea Pig Diaries.
Click here to see the complete collection of Best Stories You've nEver Read.
-- Dick Weiss
