Projects
A New World of acting was my first long format story that I wrote for the publication. This story introduced me to the editing process, as the current rendition has undergone many changes since the first draft. Additionally, I had the challenge of having to conduct interviews completely online, as this story was assigned before the first day of school. I got the initial interviews over Instagram DMs, which hindered the quotes at first. Once in person though, I was able to get interviews with the four subjects. The final product dives deeper into the story than I anticipated.
A Relative Maximum was one of my favorite stories, as the shrewd, determined personality of the subject was able to come through in the writing. During the writing process, I learned to shape the story to match the town, vs using a formula. One of the challenges was conveying the facts of the story, as I had to describe the tutoring nature between him and his sister, along with his school timeline. In the end though, I was able to keep the interesting details in, cutting out the unnecessary information.
In Your Spare Time was one of my first sports features, needing me to change my questions to focus on growth, skill, and accomplishment. The first draft was a little bland, so I needed to take a more narrative approach. This allowed the story to both flow better, and show growth over time. After a follow up interview, I was able to write a more fulfilling story. Additionally, the subject was a little shy, so making sure the interviewee was comfortable was a top priority.
Pushing Through the Pain was one of the most shocking stories I wrote, as the subjects revealed some of the less pretty details of technical theatre. The interviewees were mostly rapid and animated in their responses, so mirroring them helped them to get more comfortable. The first subject helped guide me to other sources, leading me through different takes, and learning new, chaotic events to ask further on. When writing the story, I had trouble with formatting the quotes within quotes and ellipses, but learned the grammar with each edit.
Benjamin Seelig has worked on various creative and newsworthy projects during his time at the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts. These projects include writing news, features, and poetry.
Reporting & Writing
Below are examples of work done for the Marquee Yearbook. Click on the title to bring up the piece.
Journalism Schools Place Pressure on Immediacy was my winning submission for the news writing contest at FSPA. The contestants needed to inform the public on the role of technology in journalism, and how schools are adapting to modern demands. I was thrilled to be able to interview the community of journalists present at FSPA, but nervous about racing others to the best sources. Afterwards though, I learnt that anyone in a particular field has value they can contribute to a story, and just how important “now” is in journalism.
Brass and Brights, alluding to the subject’s two passions, was an interesting story to write, since I had to focus on both hemispheres of Brown’s life, and explain how the worlds collide. Since he is constantly pulled in many directions, it was hard to track him down, often having to wait half an hour after school or trek half a mile off campus to be able to talk to him. Capturing his voice was important to the charm of the story, so I’m happy that, from the get go, he was comfortable speaking in his signature style.
Beyond the Canvas is one of the stories that wrote itself. Aris, the central artist of the story, spoke with a natural confidence and creativity. Interviewing her made me reflect on how I conduct interviews, since Aris’s grip on conversation was inspiring. The structure was a challenge, as she has so many novel traits, that choosing one to lead with seemed impossible. Interviewing her art teacher, though, helped me see her impact on artists around her, and what they find most important.
Un Concerto Incredible was another multi-angled story, encompassing many “firsts” in the history of Dreyfoos. Not only was it the first opera performed at the Prism concert, it was also the largest student run group, and first collaboration between strings, band, piano, and vocal. The effect of all of these together was a priceless shock from the crowd. So, it seemed necessary to capture the energy burning in the Kravis Center. Summarizing the plot of the opera was also important, since the plot was one of the most asked questions among my peers.
I was inspired by other sports articles I’ve read in the past where human imperfection is praised just as much as perfection. Yes, getting a high score is cool, but I think the core of the story is how long it took to get there and what is blocking them in the way. Secondly, I had to bite the bullet and except that I had a couple dud interviews with quotes that wouldn't have contributed anything. It was hard to get the interview, but I realized it was most important to consider the meat of the story, and the interview is only as good as the interviewer.
This was my first time writing a news article for the book, and it reminded me of why I mainly stick to features. For one, I had to restudy, with the help of the copy editor, how to properly cite websites and papers for evidence. Secondly, beyond just familiarizing myself with the topic, I had to understand it to the point I could teach it, however, in the future, I hope to improve at accurately paraphrasing people even if I haven’t internalized a meaning yet. Afterwards though, I was most happy to then know information I hadn’t known before.
Being that it was my first assignment as coverage editor, I took on a story I was passionate about: a recording musician at our school. If I further pursue journalism in the future, I hope to mainly cover musical topics like the above story. Given my excitement, though, I realized halfway through my interview that I needed to think less about what I wanted to know, and more about the greater story at hand. Taking the time to let the subject lead the way allowed the story to truly fit who he is.
This piece is important to me because it forced me to think about asking simpler, elegant questions. Since I usually take a conversational approach to interviews and follow a list of talking points, a Q+A required me to shape the perfect questions and guaranteed that I matched the right words to the right question I asked for journalistic integrity. Lastly, the details about her mom really served as a link throughout the piece, and carefully weaving them through required cutting some details in the interval that didn’t add to the whole.
Marketing and Audience Engagement
Ben has been engaging with local business and community leaders to sell ads and sponsorships for the Marquee Yearbook. He has successful sold an ad and two sponsorships.
Poetry
This is a narrative piece about a fish escaping the beak of a bird of prey.
This piece is about growing old and losing abilities we all take for granted.