News writing for beginners

Do you remember when you were in primary school and you were told to write a story? The teacher always said to plan your story first and to make sure it had a beginning, middle and an end.

Your story had to have a main character that went somewhere or did something. The beginning was a little introduction, the main plot was described in the middle and the results or consequences of the actions were explained at the end.

Believe it or not writing a news story is pretty similar, but your article has to be more condensed.  I personally believe a journalist’s role is to tell the reader the story in the least amount of words, my job is to read all of the less interesting bits and then to write an article in a way that saves you from having to do the same.

Writing a news story doesn’t have to be difficult and the top five tips I am about to share with you, can be applied to a story with any subject.

Tip One- The five Ws. In your opening paragraph you should answer the basic five W’s: who, what, where, why and when.  Your introductory sentence should ideally answer all of these questions in a short, snappy, direct way.

Through the rest of the story you should expand on each of these details, telling the story’s background and setting the scene. There are times when the five W’s have more than one answer each, but it’s up to you to decide which are the most important and which can be left out.

Tip Two- Use the Inverted Pyramid. The Inverted pyramid is nowhere near as complicated as it sounds. It’s a metaphor used by journalists that simply means you put the most important and interesting information at the beginning of the article, with the less relevant information left until the end.

With this in mind, the best thing to ask yourself is if your article was cut short because of space limitations, would it make sense and would a reader have a good understanding of the story?  If the answer is no, the article needs to be re-arranged.

Tip Three- Write objectively. It’s pretty self explanatory. A journalist has to write objectively, it doesn’t matter how much you agree or disagree with the content of your story, your article must be impartial.

If there is more than one side to a story, ensure you cover them all. Contrary to some beliefs a journalist’s job is to report the facts, so do not include your thoughts or judgements in the article, let your reader make up their own mind.

Tip Four- Quote people. Using quotes is a great way of keeping the reader’s interest whilst advancing the article, quotes from people involved in the story gives your article credibility. When choosing a quote find the most colourful, descriptive one available.

It is worth remembering that direct quotes are more effective than paraphrasing and can really help bring the story alive. “When my finger tips began to ache I was terrified I would lose my grip and fall on to the rocks below” is much more interesting than “Kate said she was afraid she would lose her grip and fall on to the rocks, when her fingers started aching.”

Tip Five-Choose a good angle. It’s up to the journalist to spice up a story by writing from an interesting angle. Writing an article from a different angle will help create unique web content that will offer your readers a perspective they wouldn’t have read anywhere else.  Decide on the angle before you start writing as the angle you choose will be your article’s selling tool.