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To aid our writers and editors in their work of producing quality, intersectional content, we have put together this series of WordPress tips and reminders. This series covers common challenges you might face in the writing and editing process and offers clear solutions complete with screenshots and links to examples.
This series is meant to supplement our existing guides and act as brief, easy-to-access explainer pieces. Please remember to see our WordPress Guide for a full explanation of our rules and posting process.
We recognize that some topics can lend themselves to slightly longer pieces and, therefore, invite each Regional Editor (RE) to publish one long-form piece (1,500+ words) a month. Once the “quota” is filled, REs won’t be able to publish another long-form piece until the following month. This is because we want this format to be an exceptional story form that is only used in situations where the story simply cannot be told without a higher word count.
For REs, these stories should be discussed in the weekly Teachat (team meeting) ahead of time. When pitching articles, please let the team know which piece you intend to make into a long-form and thoroughly explain why it should be a long-form piece.
If you are a writer looking to submit a long-form piece, please use our story pitching form and explain why you think the piece needs to be told in more than 1,000 words.
Here are some examples of pieces that work well as long reads:
- Non-time-sensitive pieces
- An interview with an exceptional speaker or more than one interviewee
- Cross-regional and/or multi-author story
- Cultural and/or historical piece with complex and little-known context
- Stories with more than one character or one narrative
- The writer has advanced writing skills
Disqualifiers:
- Pieces where 1,000 words would suffice
- Breaking news
- Investigations
Be aware: long pieces are less likely to be translated (unless very well written, of course!)
Please note that subeditors need have at least one week to edit a long read, so make sure it is not about a subject that is time sensitive.
And here are some examples of long-reads that we have published in the past.
Fertile ground for con artists in Ukraine and Russia: 30 years of scams
WAR IS WAR: Vkontakte users discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Czech researcher warns that the Balkan countries are good target for China and its harmful influence
Workflow for 1,500–3,000+ word stories:
- Should be pitched in the Teachat meeting with a generous timeline of at least 1 to 2 weeks
- REs will submit to their normal subeditor, noting that this is their long read for the month
- Please tag Sydney, too, so she can keep track of what long reads are being published
- Sydney tracks long stories in a spreadsheet (including user engagement, as we need to know whether they are effective)
