Tackling News Articles.A Lesson by Camille Corbett So you can sound serious and sharp, and show your readers what's important. 1.) KEEP IT SIMPLE! You have to remember that newspapers must be written at about a 5th grade level, so please stay away from larger words, no matter how very tempting they may be. 2.)LEAD LEAD LEAD LEAD. It is imperative to have a lead in your news articles. You may ask, what is a lead? Here let mama teacher define it for you: Lead: A sentence in the beginning of the article, usually 20 or 30 words long that summarizes the entire article. It usually answers the who, what, where, and why. 3.) LIST FROM GREATEST TO LEAST! List the most important things in the beginning of the article, and keep listing them until you get to the least important data. That way, if your article gets cut down, the most import stuff will remain. 4.)VIVID WORDS. From the first few words of the lead, to the very last sentence. You should be using words that are small let will catch your readers attention. And be sure to fill your article with action verbs, from your title, to your lead, to even the phrases leading up to the quotes. 5.) MAKE QUOTES INTERESTING. If you are writing for a school newspaper or for some other small body of people, make sure you get quotes from the head of the body, or a representative of a sector of the population, fill your article with quotes and more people will read it.Also, interview alot of the major population as well, making sure to pick new people each article. Also, find egmatic quotes that will back your article and create a better understanding of the situation within the article. 6.) DON'T BE BIASED!When relaying the news, try to be unbiased as you can, no matter how disgusted or appalled you are by the circumstances. 7.) A FACT OF LIFE. Your article will be cut, so don't be a diva over your work, you have to remember a newspaper is a big work and every single word you say doesn't have to printed for your article to be considered important. The newspaper doesn't revolve around you, it revolves around your audience. 8.) YES OR NO ARE NO SHOWS.When interviewing someone about an event make sure to stay far away from yes or no questions, be meticulous in the questions you ask, creating at least twenty before you interview the person. 9.)BE CREATIVE. Even though you under all these strict restrictions and guidelines you can still let your voice shine through and Wow the audience. 10.)LEAD QUOTES. Your quotes need to be lead in with a who, what, when, where, if possible. Now, that's all for now, unless you wish me to go further in depth in another lesson, so CHAO!   Comments
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Camille CorbettMarietta, GAAboutI'm a 21 year old Fulbright ETA writing to kill the time and find my sanity. I have been gone for a while. But I have returned, so watch out for some new stories. |
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