How do you speed up a reporter?

I swear I've heard this question before, several times: "What kind of tips do you have to speed up a reporter? She's a talented young journalist, but she is one of the slowest writers I've ever had to work with."

Don't you hate it when someone answers a question with a question? Well, I answered this editor's question with several questions:

* Does she not know when the reporting is done, so she overreports and pushes her writing back too late?
* Does she stare forever at the blank screen, waiting for the perfect lead to write itself?
* Does she try to perfect the lead before she can advance to the second paragraph?
* Is she disorganized?
* Is she just slow on enterprise but she does OK on deadline?
* Or does she freeze up on deadline stories? (I sent the editor a copy of the handout for my workshop, Writing Clearly on Deadline.)

To help this reporter, the editor needs to know why she writes so slowly. When you know the reason, you can coach for the cause.

Not knowing the reason, I made two suggestions that may help with some of the problems covered in my questions:

* I think that teaching the reporter to write as she reports would help greatly. It helped me as much as anything I have ever done. It helps your reporting, your writing and your time management. When she has an idea or assignment, she writes the idea. Doesn't have to be in story form (though it can be). Can just be a budget line or a plan for her reporting. But it starts her on the writing process. After her first interview or two or her first bit of internet research, she starts writing the story. Yes, she doesn't know what her lead is yet, but that takes off the pressure. She's just writing a passage. But she's writing while the interview is fresh and focused in her mind. Writing as you report pushes both processes along and improves your performance at both. And it's not just an enterprise approach. This works on deadline, too. I used it on 9/11 on my story on airport security. (I also sent the editor a copy of my handout on writing as you report, which I call the storytelling process.)

* Have discussions with her at key times during her storytelling process, asking her what her story is about, what her lead is going to be, how she's organizing the story. Lack of clarity on one of all of these issues probably is the problem and discussions of these issues can clarify and help her move along.

I urged the editor to keep these two things in mind, too:

* Some talented young reporters pick up speed as they gain experience and confidence. This problem may be rooted in personality that won't change. But if it's related to experience and confidence, it may take care of itself in time. And fortunately, the talent will grow as the pace picks up.

* Perfect reporters are hard to come by. With every good reporter, you savor and play to strengths and tolerate and compensate for weaknesses. To an extent, this editor may need to accept the reporter's slow pace as part of that talented package. You'd rather have this problem than have a less talented reporter who cranks the copy out quickly and also quickly cranks out the corrections of the errors made in haste. If this pace is deeply ingrained in her personality, you accept it with the talent and tailor the assignments and deadlines to her strengths and this weakness.

And did you notice the editor's choice of words: "She is one of the slowest writers I've ever had to work with." Let's turn that around and say: "I get to work with a talented young journalist." My wish for every editor is that your most vexing problem is the challenge presented by the imperfection of a talented young journalist.