Twelve Tips to Terrific Writing

Pay attention to DETAIL. 1. Spell all proper nouns correctly. 2. Accurately transcribe quotes. 3. Collect way more information than you need.

Grab your reader’s ATTENTION. 1. Headlines: catchy, often include literary terms 2. Leads: catchy, often focus on one person or a small group (this is called the vignette lead) 3. Captions: Address the who, what, when and where.

3. When in doubt, check NYTimes.com. Use AP STYLE. 1. Use brackets and ellipses in direct quotes. 2. Include students’ grades and teachers’ professions when introducing them as sources. 3. When in doubt, check NYTimes.com.

REVISE. 1. Rearrange paragraphs and sentences in your article to find the best fit. 2. Make sure the meaning of all quotes are clear. If you don’t know what a quote means, neither does your reader. 3. Conduct follow-up interviews early.