The best way to Create a Compelling Assortment: A Information to Our New ‘My Record’ Contest

Are you collaborating in our new “My Record” Evaluate Contest? Given how a lot inventive freedom it affords, we predict it is going to be probably the most enjoyable challenges we’re working this yr. You may work alone or with others, and may select from 14 classes — together with music, TV, motion pictures, video video games, books, eating places, theater and extra — to make your checklist.

That will help you determine what to put in writing, not solely do we have now the step-by-step instructions beneath, however we even have a associated writing immediate and a re-creation of our Conversations With Journalists function in which you’ll be able to ask Lindsay Zoladz, a Instances pop music journalist, how she makes lists like “6 New Songs You Ought to Hear Now.”

Get pleasure from, and should you’re collaborating in our contest, ensure you submit by Feb. 12!

Word to academics: All through this information we have now steered that college students each discover their very own lists and take a look at those we’ve linked. Please preview any you assign to ensure they’re acceptable on your college students.

First, discover as many as you’ll be able to within the wild.

Lists of what to observe, hearken to, learn, see and eat are in all places, and our first piece of recommendation is to begin to change into acquainted with them. As you scroll social media, flip by magazines or surf the web, discover when, the place and the way these lists present up, and begin saving those you want greatest.

Proper now, as a brand new yr begins, it’s particularly straightforward to seek out these collections since media shops of every kind submit roundups like “The Finest Films of 2024” or “The Albums We’re Wanting Ahead to in 2025.”

Discover them from as many alternative sources as you’ll be able to, after which carry just a few to class and share them with others. Have in mind, nevertheless, that you simply’re on the lookout for lists that transcend simply naming gadgets. For our contest, you’ll additionally want to clarify why every merchandise is in your checklist.

Subsequent, use these free hyperlinks to learn some chosen examples from The New York Instances.

Here’s a number of lists which were not too long ago printed in The Instances. Select just a few that curiosity you and examine them out.

21 Films, Books and Albums With a Theater Focus to Devour Through the Holidays

Now that you simply’ve studied a number of — from The Instances and elsewhere — reply these questions:

• Why do you suppose lists like these are so well-liked? What’s efficient, attention-grabbing and entertaining about them?

• What frequent parts make up these lists? That’s, what do you look forward to finding? What would you not look forward to finding?

• What do you discover about how these lists are often organized?

• What do you discover about how they converse to their viewers? For instance, are they informal or extra formal? Do they sound as if a pal had been speaking to you, or extra as if a professor had been giving a lecture?

• To what extent do these lists presume you’ve gotten some background data in regards to the subject? Do you suppose you’ll be able to nonetheless get one thing from them even should you don’t?

Now select one piece to look at intently.

• What does the introduction do? How does it clarify what that you must know? How does it provide help to anticipate what you’re about to learn?

• Subsequent, deal with the person gadgets. How does the creator each present its relationship to the general theme and provide you with particular details about every factor on the checklist?

2. Speak to a Instances journalist who makes lists like this for a dwelling.

“6 New Songs You Ought to Hear Now.” “7 Scorching Tracks From a New Technology of Feminine Rappers.” “9 Nice Songs That Point out Baseball Stars.”

Lindsay Zoladz, a pop music critic at The Instances, is the creator of those lists and plenty of extra, and from Jan. 9 to 22 you’ll have an opportunity to ask her questions.

What might you ask her about her course of — about how she chooses her themes, makes her decisions or creates her descriptions? What are you able to be taught from her that will likely be useful on your work?

Discover the whole lot that you must take part right here.

3. Give you a spread of concepts on your personal checklist.

Listed below are the 14 classes you’ll be able to select from, however keep in mind that you could additionally mix classes should you like:

— structure
— artwork
— books
— comedy
— dance
— trend
— motion pictures
— music
— podcasts
— eating places
— know-how
— theater
— TV reveals
— video video games

And listed here are some methods to get began:

• Use the questions we ask in our associated Scholar Opinion discussion board, that are designed to take you thru a brainstorming course of. We hope you’ll each submit a few of your individual solutions and reply to the solutions of others.

• Get inspiration from the lists you’ve learn to date. Which have stood out to you? Why? Might you tackle a unique subject in an analogous approach?

• Ask for solutions from individuals who know you properly. What would your mates or household say you recognize or care probably the most about? What do you are inclined to advocate to them?

• Work along with your class to brainstorm. Share as many checklist concepts as you’ll be able to, each those who you’ve discovered “within the wild” and people you’ve give you your self. Let every concept encourage new ones till you’ve gotten dozens of prospects to select from.

• Lastly, ask your self: Which of my concepts can be most enjoyable or attention-grabbing for me to pursue? Which do I care about most? We now have discovered time and again, throughout all of the contests we’ve ever supplied, that college students produce their greatest work on subjects they really care about.

4. Play along with your angle.

After getting a common concept for what you’d like to put in writing about, the true inventive problem begins.

Let’s say you’re a faithful Swiftie. One straightforward checklist so that you can make could be “My Favourite Taylor Swift Songs.” However contemplating the artist’s reputation, many different college students will in all probability ship lists similar to this, and it is going to be laborious to face out amongst them.

As a substitute, brainstorm some concepts for a extra authentic spin. Remember the fact that no matter you write, it should be acceptable for a common viewers, not simply fellow Swifties.

As a substitute of “The 63 Most Fashionable Individuals of 2024,” how about “The 5 Appears to be like Most Well-liked at My College”? (Please consider, nevertheless, that for this contest you’re not submitting photographs, so that you’ll have to make use of vivid language to explain the seems!)

As a substitute of “What to See in N.Y.C. Galleries in January,” how a couple of checklist of the perfect artwork to see free of charge in your space?

As a substitute of “Questlove Made You an Vitality Playlist,” why not a themed playlist of music for if you find yourself doing homework or are on the way in which to a monitor meet?

Make a listing that provides extra context about one thing you’re an knowledgeable on.

Possibly you’re a sneakerhead and need extra of your fellow fanatics understood the position of the Air Jordan in sneaker historical past. Attempt making a listing that explains that in a approach that’s attention-grabbing for others, as this Instances checklist does for motion pictures about Bob Dylan.

That’s additionally how a chunk like “Digging Into Kendrick Lamar’s Samples” works. In it, Ms. Zoladz, the Instances pop music critic we wrote about above, describes how, by the usage of samples, “GNX” is “an album in deep dialog with the previous and current sounds of West Coast rap.” The checklist goes by a number of the most notable sonic references on the album and explains how the artist and his producers “flip them into one thing new.”

What historical past or context might you supply readers to assist them higher perceive one thing you’re keen on? How might you clarify it in such a approach that a median reader would respect it?

Attempt making a damaging checklist as a substitute of a constructive one.

Not each checklist has to deal with “the perfect.” As a substitute, possibly you’d wish to warn individuals away from one thing. “5 TV Reveals That Have Completely Unrealistic Teenage Characters”? “Three Overrated Broadway Musicals”? “The Ugliest Buildings in [Your Town]”?

Work with mates:

Pool your data! Instances critics do that typically, each for broad seems at tradition like “What Our Critics Are Wanting Ahead to in 2025” and for spotlighting their particular pursuits, as in“25 Soar Scares That Nonetheless Make Us Soar.”

Take into consideration how a lot enjoyable you can have collectively sampling the perfect French fries in your neighborhood or debating probably the most memorable film {couples} in rom-com historical past.

5. Write an environment friendly and fascinating introduction.

Now that you’ve got an important concept for a listing, it’s time to begin writing. However for this contest, you’ve gotten solely 600 phrases, so your introduction wants to make use of each certainly one of them properly.

The excellent news is that you simply don’t want loads of room to set your readers up. Check out this primary paragraph:

The ground creaks, the music turns ominous and an uneasy quiet units in. Then BAM! It’s the basic bounce scare. This staple of horror motion pictures, when carried out properly, is immediately memorable. With Instances movie writers, filmmakers and stars weighing in, we ranked the 25 bounce scares that also get us each time.

What did this introduction handle to do in simply 52 phrases? Does it make you need to preserve studying (and watching)? How does it get you in the appropriate temper? How does it clarify why a listing like that is value making? How does it provide you with vital details about what you’re about to learn?

Let’s take a look at just a few extra. Right here’s the intro to “Finest Comedy of 2024”:

Joe Rogan jumped to the entrance of the conservative media institution. Netflix went in deeper on dwell comedy, whereas Disney entered the stand-up market. Katt Williams beefed much more than Kendrick Lamar and Drake. John Mulaney and Taylor Tomlinson turned speak present hosts. It was an eventful yr in comedy. Listed below are some highlights.

How does this intro supply each a broad overview of the state of the business in 2024 and a few vital particulars — all to again up the assertion that “it was an eventful yr in comedy”?

What if you wish to create a listing that appears at artwork or tradition by a unique lens than simply “better of”? Right here’s how “8 Comics to Learn This Satisfaction Month” did that in simply 41 phrases final June:

This assortment of comics and graphic novels, a mixture of nonfiction and fiction tales, has settings as disparate as a cabin within the woods and a 24-hour comfort retailer. What unites them is that all of them star L.G.B.T.Q. protagonists. Completely satisfied Satisfaction!

Lastly, right here’s the opening to a listing that you simply may not have identified you wanted till you noticed it: “Household and Associates in City? Right here’s What to Watch Primarily based on the Temper.” It begins this fashion:

“What do you all need to watch?”

This query has torpedoed many get-togethers, leaving the poor soul wielding the distant at a Thanksgiving gathering to look and scroll by seemingly infinite streaming choices till everyone seems to be cross-eyed and over it. Let’s skip that half, lets? Listed below are a handful of picks that may match the invoice for some frequent vacation dynamics.

How does the author set a scene we are able to all relate to and entice you to learn on?

6. Be certain that every merchandise in your checklist sticks to your theme.

The novel “James” by Percival Everett appeared on many lists of Finest Books of 2024, and was certainly one of The Instances’s high 10 picks. It additionally seems on The Instances’s greatest audiobooks checklist. Right here is how the e-book is described in it:

A number of instances all through this retelling of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the angle of the titular enslaved man (Twain’s Jim), a white character notices James’s normal English cadence with shock and asks: “Why are you speaking like that?” With spectacular comedic timing and vocal agility, Hoffman skips nimbly between James’s pure eloquence and the “slave filter” he makes use of to cover it from white individuals, deepening a challenge that hinges on vernacular as each signifier and gear of liberation.

How does the primary line rapidly summarize the e-book’s subject for individuals who may not know? How does the remainder of the outline deal with what makes the novel a wonderful audiobook? What can we be taught in regards to the e-book by its narration by a proficient actor?

One other instance? “6 Podcasts for Reflection and Restoration” was printed on the finish of 2021, simply because the Omicron variant was inflicting new waves of Covid-19 infections throughout the holidays. Because the introduction says, “in their very own methods, these six podcasts might help you to take a breath, refill your emotional cup and get some relaxation forward of the New Yr.”

Right here is one entry. How does the author make it match her theme?

‘99% Invisible’

When the world feels tense, meditation means that we deal with our rapid environment: that constructing, these timber, the bottom beneath our toes. Although the long-running podcast “99% Invisible” shouldn’t be designed to be meditative, its sound-rich explorations of the bodily world make it good listening materials for fraught instances. For greater than a decade, ever since its origins on public radio, the present has delved into the unseen designs, patterns and choices that form our lives. Although it’s primarily about design and structure, many episodes transcend that remit — one memorable installment final yr delved into the weird origin story of the Baha Males tune “Who Let the Canine Out.” There’s a again catalog of greater than 400 episodes to select from, and regardless of which one you begin with, you’ll come away along with your view of the world barely modified.

Lastly, right here is an entry in a set of films and TV reveals titled “In a Yr of Nervousness Onscreen, Right here’s Who Portrayed It Finest”:

‘The Bear’

“The Bear” is extensively accepted as the anxiety-inducing present on TV proper now, and for good motive. The restaurant world is already fast-paced and tense with out all of the stress Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) locations on himself and his co-workers within the opening weeks of his restaurant’s rebrand and glow-up. And although Carmy’s anxiousness is commonly on the forefront of the drama, the ultimate episode of Season 3 reveals Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) assembly her restrict as properly. Agonizing over a choice to change into a accomplice of the Bear with Carmy the management freak or take a head chef place at one other restaurant with higher advantages and (possible) much less drama, Sydney breaks down in the course of a celebration at her new dwelling. She steps outdoors and has an anxiousness assault; she hunches over, hyperventilating, overwhelmed by the choice she has to make.

What do you discover about how the author retains the deal with her theme? What particular person phrases are used right here to hammer dwelling the anxiety-producing nature of this present?

7. Compel us along with your opinions.

For a few years, we ran a Scholar Evaluate Contest that was the precursor to this one. To assist college students perceive how a evaluate is an argument and the way robust descriptive language might help make it, we created a number of lesson plans. To enter larger depth on these abilities, you may go to this useful resource and this one.

However for the My Record contest, college students should current opinions on not only one work, however a number of. How do you make a case for one thing in only a paragraph or so? Listed below are some examples.

“8 Video Video games to Play Subsequent” is a listing that options contributions from Instances avid gamers across the newsroom. Every entry is brief and to the purpose — however discover how, in entries like these, every phrase is rigorously chosen:

Bleak Religion: Forsaken

You’re a lone warrior misplaced within the depths of the Omnistructure, an unlimited city sprawl that has grown past motive. The handful of individuals left are scrambling to outlive and maintain onto their sanity. Anticipate robust enemies, unforgiving fight and dramatic boss battles.

Play should you appreciated: Any Soulslike sport, however are able to forgive some tough edges.

What to know: Bleak Religion is an impartial title produced by three individuals, so count on a good quantity of jank. However the sport nails its environment, which blends grimdark fantasy and cyberpunk.

How does the author put you in the course of the sport? What phrases or phrases are most evocative? Do you be taught sufficient in simply 93 phrases to type an opinion of your individual about whether or not or not you’d need to play? How do the headings on the finish in daring assist (“Play should you appreciated:” and “What to know:”)? Might you utilize headings like this on your checklist?

Subsequent, think about this entry from “22 of the Finest Bakeries Throughout the U.S. Proper Now”:

Comadre Panadería

Austin, Texas

Mariela Camacho’s pastries are the stuff of Barbie-fueled, masa-laden desires. Her conchas are ethereal with a crackly shell, and vivid with flavors like berries or matcha. The pínguína de maracuya, a chocolate-dipped cake stuffed with passion-fruit cream, is certainly one of a number of choices that style like higher variations of a nostalgic deal with. The showstopper is the pink cake: toasty with corn, tart with a prickly pear buttercream and pleasant with sprinkles. Regardless of their saccharine appearances, not one of many desserts is overly cloying, and even the espresso drinks (Texas pecan horchata! Cranberry vanilla agua fresca!) strike the playful tone of the pastries.

For our contest, you aren’t allowed to submit photographs — however should you can write descriptions this vivid, you received’t want them! What are you imagining these desserts appear like? What phrases are particularly evocative right here? How are you going to describe the gadgets in your checklist so clearly that your readers can image them of their heads?

8. Be certain that all of it works collectively and … submit!

Now it’s time to learn the entire thing over and be sure that it holds collectively and that each facet of it really works. You may ask your self:

• Does the title of my checklist precisely replicate what’s inside it?

• Is my theme or focus one thing that others will likely be concerned with?

• Does my introduction assist readers perceive the subject and put together for the checklist to return?

• Have I thoughtfully chosen three to 5 works which can be clearly related to my theme?

• Do I present how the person gadgets on my checklist relate to that theme?

• Do I state my opinions in a approach that’s persuasive and compelling?

• Do I supply particulars to assist these opinions?

• Does the voice within the piece sound like me? Is it participating to learn?

• Are my language and tone acceptable for the subject I’ve chosen?

• Have I written the checklist in such a approach that a median reader might perceive it and get one thing attention-grabbing from it?

• Is it 600 phrases or fewer, not counting the title?

• Have I adopted the contest rubric?

Good luck and thanks for collaborating!