Partnering with a coast-to-coast clientele has acquainted Fine Point with a wide range of publication approaches, including help on school magazines.
Depending on the client, our firm bounces during this season between the roles of writer, story editor and editor-in-chief — handling anything from a story or two to oversight of the issue. Along the way, we’ve observed practices that can trip up magazines.
Here are a few tips that any school could put into action to upgrade its next issue.
Make it matter
Feature stories commonly hang on an event or an interview, and often they begin with an assignment from editor to writer: Cover this award ceremony in 300 words, or give us 800 words about the cool thing that person did.
What often goes overlooked, though, is that every magazine story contains its own assignment:
Tell the reader why this matters, what this moment means to the school.
Without this crucial information, an article falls flat. The reader is left to wonder, What did the school mean for me to take from the article? Why was it published?
Sometimes the uniqueness of an accomplishment makes the story’s assignment obvious.
More often, the writer has to look deeper while reporting: Does a manner of speaking or a habit of action reveal something important about the subject? Is a particular anecdote or quote so memorable that it transforms one’s understanding of the topic?
A writer who has finished reporting but hasn’t yet discerned the story’s purpose should chat with the editor before drafting. This will help to clarify things and get everyone on the same page.
From there, structuring becomes far simpler. Elements that serve the tale stand out. So do the unneeded bits that distract the reader.
Editors can help from the start: As you assign an article, provide your understanding of the point of the piece — why you want this story.
To be sure, the writer may end up with a different takeaway. As long as the reader can connect with that point of view and it meets the school’s needs, that outcome may be okay.
Name the play
Given the tyranny of deadlines and word limits, corner-cutting is unavoidable. Quotes become paraphrases. Lengthy digressions become sidebars, which later become quick asides.
We must resist such skimping, though, with the handful of details at the center of a story.
Details are tricky. They convey knowingness — the authority a writer needs to tell the tale compellingly. But too many details will bore a reader and blow up the word count.
The writing coach Roy Peter Clark advises to look in research and interviews for “the telling detail” — the one that both shows knowingness and communicates something more to the reader.
Interviews bring shards of memory into view, but often only a glimpse. Listen actively through interviews to improve the odds of noticing a telling detail in the moment.
Later on, editors can assist by pointing out in the copy where more information would aid the narrative.
In a school magazine, a telling detail might be the title of the musical that inspired a grad to become a performer or the name of the receptionist who became unforgettable by recognizing each student.
The title or name will carry emotional truth to the reader who knows that musical, too, or also found acceptance in a daily greeting by name. Just a few words can promote connection between this reader and the school.
Simplify the complex
As schools invest heavily in STEM curriculum and facilities, their magazines are likely to document that commitment. But this can pull a writer into deep waters.
STEM stories tend to focus on the what over the how, the where over the why. We also see writers choosing to “hide behind the interview”: quoting people at length to avoid any risk of personally messing up technical facts.
Both approaches are safe but inevitably dull. Facing a piece that “reads thin,” what can the editor do to improve things?
One tip is to urge the author to do more foundational research. Maybe they just don’t know enough about the subject to convey it properly.
In a real pinch, the editor could encourage the writer to simplify the STEM elements: treat the technicalities as a tiny piece of the story, for instance, rather than the heart of it.
Consider this profile from Kent Place School of an alumna who works in artificial intelligence. Given AI’s buzz, the story could easily have been about all the tech. Instead, this enjoyable feature focused on the grad. What’s more, the story used lots of examples to simplify the most complex aspects, which made the piece far more accessible.
Finally, schools would do well to recognize science writing for a general audience as a specialized skill.
For a high-profile, STEM-focused feature, a freelance specialist is much more likely than an in-house writer to produce the results you want. (Get in touch if you need help in this area.)
Read often and widely
Every writing coach agrees on this: Good writers read.
Reading cultivates curiosity, a valuable quality for a writer. It teaches craft, both for good and for ill. (Pulp novels are full of lessons.) And reading good writing tends to inspire the act of good writing.
A sure way to improve your magazine, then, is encourage your writing team to read.
Read your back issues. (They will teach much about the school’s culture!)
Read other schools’ magazines. (They’ll offer ideas that may work for your school, too.) As a starting point, here are a set of winning independent school feature stories, pulled from the annual Brilliance Awards.
Read widely: trashy novels and serious histories and books about writing and celebrity memoirs written by “ghosts.”
Read everything the brilliant journalist Eli Saslow writes.
Read for the joy of seeing words arranged in unique ways.
Read for the education: You never know what knowledge will be needed someday for a story assignment.
And read for camaraderie: Start a lunch club to discuss what your colleagues are currently enjoying. You may even choose to bribe your co-workers by awarding gift cards for a certain number of readings.
This post is adapted from the March 2025 issue of Refill, a newsletter published by Fine Point Communications.
