By Veon Lassiter and Elisha Baskerville
As a writer, you know you need a certain amount of inspiration to do your job. It takes creativity and some good luck to find story ideas for news writing, but with experience you will get better and better at picking up on topics of interest to your audience. New ideas are always just around the corner.
Listen to everyone, from co-workers, friends and family, to the chit-chat in the lunch room. A story can be found anywhere and everywhere so always keep an open ear to what's going on around you.
Talk to experts in their field and ask them what their largest challenge is. This will help you to get more acquainted with the story or lead you are chasing.
Think seasonal, as every publication does holiday-related and weather-related stories. Many stories have to do with holidays and things going on during holiday time so may be easy to find good stories during these times.
Read other publications, including newspapers, magazines and popular websites, and borrow topics and ideas. ◦ Make sure you can put a different slant on it to make the story idea your own. ◦ Pay special attention to the Letters of the Editor section of a newspaper to get a read on topics the school may be interested in.
Use your own personal experiences to come up with story ideas for news writing. If you are you planning a committee, planning a club or trying out for your first team, others are most likely going through similar things and would be interested in those type of stories. ◦ Along the same lines, think about using your own hobbies as a story idea.
Go back through old stories and notes and see if there's anything you didn't use that could spark a new story. News articles from past editors in the school are a great way to improve your writing and attain ideas.
Lastly remember to make each story your own and give it your own touch of creativity