A common occurrence in pitching editors is a long trail of rejections littering your inbox because your story ideas can simply not live forever. The kind-enough editors who enunciate the reason for their rejections let you know this. They say your story can't be pursued or greenlit because it's not evergreen, and “maybe you can try pitching to the news desk?” where all the trendy, fast stories are published. But stories from the news desk never have any impact, just some fleeting popularity if it's a scandal or about a people's favorite, so where do you go from there?
Many writers are not entirely open to the perception of their ideas as newsy content (unless specifically writing news) because, really, do they even matter (especially considering the present state of news) in the grand scheme of journalism anymore? News pieces may exist online for as long as possible, maybe till a venture capitalist buys the publication and decides to erase all of its former content, but not with any relevance. It is nearly impossible to these pieces dominate and drive conversations for an extended period, answer questions to a future not-yet-existing problem, be brought up years later to support research about a new phenomenon, or thrill anyone beyond the first week of their publication.
In my early days as a writer-going-on-journalist, a lot of the rejections from editors who were kind enough to provide feedback read as short explainers detailing why my stories couldn't last a week not to talk of forever. And no, these editors didn't tell me “This story wouldn't last a week,” they would ask “Is this tied to a trend or a larger subculture?” I couldn't answer that question so the email was automatically a rejection. It was pretty hard to take in the first couple of months. I thought I was offering fresh, uncovered perspectives that shed a light on the subject in a way that people would love to revisit, but it was all in my head. I was in perpetual disappointment when all my “improvements” (that, by the way, didn't get past my belief that a good story is one people are currently talking about) hit rock bottom. I was so stuck on that opinion that I couldn't see past it, even as I desperately tried to come up with an evergreen story idea.
It's easy to get very cooped up in how stimulating trends can be—a juicy conspiracy blowing up Twitter, a 50-part story Tiktokers can't get enough of, or a crazed Instagram skinfluencer self-prescribing meds for skin care? Oh, yes, let's write about it! More often than not, we're too eager to tie them to the broader conversation about the rise in societal decadence or consumerism or another bigger problem the world is facing. But sometimes they don't qualify. Most of these stories, at their core, are hot takes and quick news, even though we're convinced we can make good, everlasting content out of them. That is our mistake. We often confuse trend stories for evergreen content—and not that both can't relate in some way (because sometimes evergreens can have a news peg—but we perpetually misplace what aim both intend to serve.
For evergreen content with trend pegs, If there are not enough words, research, or subculture to back-up reporting about the wider implication of a set of trending TikTok videos, it's very likely that it's news. If it can't answer what the ideology behind their recent churn is, where we've seen this before, what research has been done on it, what has triggered its resurfacing, if there's a traceable subculture around it or what it means for the future—it's just a trend story. I do think it's okay for it to be a trend story, even with your unique angle and different perspective.
With so much said, it may already feel like I'm implying evergreen stories are one difficult chunk of wood that can't be split, no. It's really just writing stories that go beyond trends. It took me months to completely take in the attributes of evergreen reporting and write adequately but I did because I was keen on what I wanted. I started to look at subcultures, previous reports, hidden histories, extensive research and much more – but the process grew to be quite easy. Trying to get balanced in evergreens means there are beats you have to shy away from (entertainment!). It means you have to put off sensationalism and get into business. Be prepared to write long-forms, spend a lot of time with sources, read a lot of opinions about it, monitor a growing trend to see how long it can reach, and back up positions with sufficient data.
My reporting the past 3 years have expertly reflected how acquainted I've become with evergreen stories. And this is why when I ventured into content production, I had a nearly flawless start. The core of content is storytelling for an eternity. Yes, put in that SEO push and make it rank, but understand that the article must be timeless. It must transcend generations, just as the product and service does. Managing content for brands means I am constantly thinking of writing out stories that resonate with customers forever. That brands can always refer customers to at any point in their buying journey (which can be very conflicting). I believe that content is king, but timeless content is Queen and what I have is extensive, hands-on experience being a queen-maker.
Want to work together? Email me and we can get started.