Writing Your Story Mcom-100W

5 Ws Who, What, When, Where, Why How These elements should be covered within the first few paragraphs of a news story.

Writing Your Story Be Organized Don’t jump from one point to another. Tell the facts in an organized manner, eliminate opinion and write tight—or with clarity and precision. Use transitions.

Writing Your Story Inverted Pyramid  Introduced during the Civil War. Telegraph lines of reporters would get cut off.  Evolved to accommodate newspaper space.  Today, readers don’t have time to read through a whole story. The biggest, or most important elements of the story are told first, followed by less important facts and information. Readers want to get the most important information as quickly as possible.

Writing Your Story Remember, this isn’t your English class. News stories have only a lead and body. News stories don’t have a thesis statement News stories don’t have an intro, body & conclusion Stories are cut from the bottom up With features, the rules are more flexible

Writing Your Story Paragraph Length  Your English essay paragraphs may be five or more sentences long, whereas paragraphs in news stories may be only one to two sentences long.

Writing Your Story First thing you will write is your lead The lead is the first (or first few) paragraphs of your story. Your lead is the MOST IMPORTANT part of your story

Writing Your Story The lead should tell readers:  -WHAT THE STORY IS ABOUT,  -MAKE THEM WANT TO READ THE STORY  -CREATE A PROPER MOOD FOR THE STORY. Generally, your lead should not be longer than 35 words

Writing the Story LEAVE YOUR OPINION OUT. You can report other people’s opinion with attribution, but not your own. Do not mention yourself in the story. Do not use phrases like, “When asked, the president replied, “…”

Writing the Story Your lead should present a summary, which means your story usually does not need to be chronological. Use multiple sources Keep sentences between 20 & 30 words.