Part Ten: Writing and Formatting Tips

• Formatting and General Tips
• Writing Tips

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Formatting and General Tips

• All content must begin with the following:
  • Headline: (Write the headline you think is best suited to the article or column)
  • Deck: (Note: Decks are typically not used in Editorial Columns)
  • Byline1: By (Your first and last name)
  • Byline2: (Your title)
  • Normal: (Begin typing your article here)
• Single-space your stories; don’t double-space after periods or between sentences.
• No breaks between paragraphs; no tabs at the beginning of a paragraph.
• Font is to be Times New Roman sized 12.
• The alignment of your text should be justified (Editorial columns are left-aligned).
• Content is to saved with a slug as the document name; the slug should contain the date, section and a reference to the content. For example:
  05_14_06_city_as election article.doc

Other things to remember when writing your story or column:

• With few exceptions, articles and columns should be no more than 650 words.
• Use good sources. Press releases and other newspapers’ articles are weak sources. For local content, interview actual members of the campus community. For national/international commentary, form your own opinion, don’t borrow another’s.
• Be very critical of Web resources and use only those that are widely accepted as credible.
• Keep your leads short and catchy and don’t mention any studies or surveys in your lead — they belong in the body of the article or column.
• With quotes, the attribution is always attached to the first sentence.
• Use shorter, compound sentences; avoid run-on sentences.

The Greatest Writing Tips the World has Ever Seen

Writers' Recommended Tips

1. Writing checklist
   Recommended by: Avi Bass, Northern Illinois University
   Good Writing has:
   • accurate information
   • interesting phrasing
   • appropriate word choices
   • clear transitions
   • no misplaced modifiers
   • parallel construction
   • proper sequence of tenses
   • correct grammar
   • correct spelling and punctuation
2. The great lead test
   Recommended by: Kathy Norton, Poughkeepsie Journal

   Read the lead for an article. Now ask, does this sentence make you want to read the next sentence and the rest of the story?

3. Finding the focus
   Recommended by: Chip Scanlan, Poynter Institute
   • Every story is about something. The best stories have a focus and a point. Try asking these questions:
   • What's the news? What's the story? What information surprised me the most? What will surprise my reader or viewer? What one thing does my reader need to know?
4. Active language
   Recommended by: Denny Wilkins, St. Bonaventure University

   Everyone tells you to write using an “active voice.” Anyone ever tell you how to do that? Here’s one suggestion: Assignment: Try going through a story and highlighting every “are,” “is,” “were,” and “was.” Now find a way to rewrite the sentence using a stronger verb.

5. Edit your own copy
   Recommended by: Denny Wilkins, St. Bonaventure University

   Assignment: It’s almost impossible to edit your own copy. But try this out. Print out a copy of your article and read it backwards. This should help you see your copy through fresh eyes. Find any errors or awkward phrases?

6. Circling problem areas
   Recommended by: Denny Wilkins, St. Bonaventure University

   Assignment: Go through an article and circle every period using a bright highlighter. Now look at the pattern of periods — looking for areas where you see longer sentences. See if this helps you identify sentences that may be too long. Typically, longer sentences are where you find grammatical errors, needless prepositions and other impediments to good writing. See if the story has a good balance of long and short sentences.

7. Show me the details
   Recommended by: Rene Kaluza, Day city editor/training editor, St. Cloud Times
   • Show, don’t tell. (However, you have to have reported the details well to be able to do that.)
   • Assignment: Go through an article and find examples where a writer could have benefited from using details to show the reader something rather than just telling them about it. Also, find examples where the writer succeeded in showing you something.
8. Finding the nutgraf
   Recommended by: Nancy Weil, Assistant News Editor, IDG News Service

   Highlight the nutgraf (the sentence that provides an overview for what the story is about) or put it in bold or whatever and go back to it as you write to make certain that the story supports it.

9. Quote alert
   Recommended by: Nancy Weil, Assistant News Editor, IDG News Service

   Go on quote alert. Make sure every quote you use is worth using. Otherwise paraphrase.

10. Omit needless words
    Recommended by: Nancy Weil, Assistant News Editor, IDG News Service

    Be on guard for words you don’t need. Watch for phrases, such as “in order to” and others that add words without saying more.

11. Are your lips moving?
    Recommended by: Laurie Hertzel, Minneapolis Star Tribune

    Read your story out loud. You will hear awkward phrases and know if a sentence is too long or difficult to read.

12. Search and destroy
    Recommended by: Laurie Hertzel, Minneapolis Star Tribune

    Search and destroy. That is, after your first draft do a computer search on weak words (there, it, etc.) or weak verbs or (in my case) adverbs (do a search on LY) or any other phrases or words you tend to use as a crutch, and then change them to something stronger.

13. Making a positive out of a negative
    Recommended by: Laurie Hertzel, Minneapolis Star Tribune
    • Convert negatives to positives. Figure out a way to say what is, instead of what isn’t. Saying what is usually shorter, clearer and more direct. (Obviously, there are times when, for various writerly reasons, you want to break this rule.)
    • Look for “not” and “wasn’t” (or “isn’t”) or “no” and see if it makes sense to rewrite.
    • Examples:
      “The movie wasn’t engaging and most people didn't stay for the end.”
      Change to: “The movie was dull and people left early.”
      or,
      “The City Council vote was not unanimous.”
      change to: “The council’s vote was divided.”
14. Read!
    Recommended by: Lynn Kalber, the Palm Beach Post

    My best tip is: Read good writers. Actually, the basic is “Just READ!” — it’s surprising how many reporters don't.

15. Tell that story in one word
    Recommended by: Michelle Hiskey, reporter, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

    Attach a ONE WORD theme to your story - i.e. greed, monopoly, trust, hunger, etc. — to keep you focused.

16. Before you write
    Recommended by: Nancy Weil, Assistant News Editor, IDG News Service
    • Organize notes and information, develop a system that works for you.
    • Different color inks, stars, whatever. Use story wheels or write down key points of the story before you write so that you don't forget any of the elements you want to include.
17. Walk away
    Recommended by: Nancy Weil, Assistant News Editor, IDG News Service

    Provided you aren't on right-this-second deadline, leave the office if you get stuck. Likewise, get up and move around when you're working on long stories or stories with difficult topics (get away from the murder and mayhem you are writing about). Take a walk outside. Go to your favorite store and immerse yourself in the tactile pleasures of shopping for 15 or 20 minutes, relax and let your mind go where it wants with the story.

Organizing your stories

• Jot down a brief outline before you start to write the story. It shouldn’t take you longer than a few minutes. This becomes your writing map.
• Tell yourself what your story is about in a few words. Wrapping it up this way helps you develop and stick to a theme.
• Write – or at least think about – your story in sections, chapters, blocks, subthemes. Again, it helps to keep you on track and forces you to toss out the material you don’t need. Yes, as hard as that is, we all have to do it.
• Bring interview subjects into your story to have their say … then say goodbye to them. (A reminder: This isn’t a “rule,” it’s a suggestion, especially in stories with a lot of interviewees.)
• Don’t allow people to say the same thing as someone else in your story – unless there is a reason to add weight to a statement or fact. Such repetition is often needless and done for one reason – someone was kind enough to give you an hour of his or her time, so maybe you should give that person a few paragraphs in your story. Poor reason!
• Try writing without your notes. The story, one writing coach says, is in your head. Only refer to your notes when you need to.
• Use transitions to move your story from one person to the next, one location to the next, one theme to the next, one time element to the next. Such indications of movement help readers follow the story.
• Justify everything you use. Ask yourself questions: Is this advancing the story? Why is this important? What happens to the story if I leave it out? As William Zinsser says (“On Writing Well”): Are you hanging on to something useless just because you think it’s beautiful?
• Ask your interview subjects “story-ending questions” as a way to wrap up your story. Where do you go from here? What have you learned from your experience? What message do you want to pass on to readers?
• Know how you want to end your story before you start. It makes it easier to write when you know where you want to end. So when you are thinking of your opening, think, too, of your ending.

The “Lucky 13” ways to become a good writer

1. Realize you are human and will make mistakes. So that means that you need to self-edit. Remember what Ernest Hemingway said: "Prose is architecture, not interior decoration." Think about what that means to you.
2. Always get the names right. Ever had your name misspelled?
3. Double-check your facts. Mistakes will be made, but careful writers and editors catch as many as possible. They also always double-check sentences that they've rewritten.
4. Know grammar. Didn't listen to your English teacher? Well, there are lots of books to help you catch up.
5. Use simple words. Clarity in writing is vital and the basic components of clear writing are simple: brevity and simplicity.
6. Use those simple words correctly. Mark Twain said, "The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and a lightning bug."
7. Shorten your sentences. Your stories should contain sentences with a variety of lengths, but most should be fewer than 30 words.
8. Listen. Ever know a person who didn't listen? Good interviewers ask well-prepared questions, then listen for answers.
9. Use great quotes! Don't use them for facts; use them for emphasis and flow.
10. Think, write and rewrite. First prepare for your story through research, then write it and then rewrite it. The rewrite may be most important.
11. Just write! After you've done your research, then write. Let your rewrite become your masterpiece.
12. Be original and relate to your reader. The best writers eliminate clichés, journalese and jargon and find ways to explain and use elements that readers will understand.
13. MOST IMPORTANTLY: Feature people, not things. People add life to stories, help people relate to statistics, help them form opinions about issues.

Think short

• Taut, well-tuned stories draw readers along while saving space
• If you're like most newspaper writers, you face increasing demands to squeeze more information into less space. Often, this means going back and cutting your story or, worse, having someone else cut it for you just so it fits the page.
• Given this reality, it makes sense to write shorter stories so that others can't find flab in your work. You must invest more effort, but you're more likely to produce a lively, tightly written story.
• Understand, this is not a plea to write only 12-inch stories. I simply suggest that rather than ask yourself, “How much space can I have?” you ask, “How little space can I use?" Instead of 60 inches, can you write 40? Or 14 rather than 20? Not for the sake of shortness itself, but that you learn to make every word count.
• The key to doing so is not cutting, but selecting.
• Dumping your notebook on the screen and then slashing it to fit produces stories that look like they've been through a blender. But by selecting only the best material before you write, you stand a better chance of producing a story with an impact whose every sentence sings.
• That means you have two jobs: choosing a focus and writing tightly.

Choosing a focus

Focus begins not at the keyboard, but at the idea stage. This is where you target your reporting on specific, concrete ideas rather than vague notions that you hope will produce a tale.

Rather than reporting on poverty and health care, for example, you can focus on the working poor on the west side who have no bus service and can't afford a cab to reach the low-income clinic on the south side.

Even more concretely: Why not show one low-income west side family's struggle to obtain health care at that clinic? Their experience will likely illustrate everything you want to tell your readers on both poverty and health care, and will make the story more understandable, immediate and real. It will also save you needless reporting.

Based on what you've learned, negotiate a length with your editor and design your story to fit.

When it comes time to write, decide what you do and don't need from your notes. Here are some strategies:

• Ask some simple focusing questions: What is the story's dominant meaning? State it in a single sentence. What's your point? What should the headline say? What should the budget line say? Perhaps most effective of all: How would I tell this to my mother?
• Try Donna Fry's strategy: List the most important things, then cut the list in half and organize what remains.
• Or ask: What happened? What caused it to happen? What's likely to happen next?

Ask yourself what your readers need to know about the story. Ask their questions, and mark your notes for the material that answers them, in order. Devise a written plan, if only in code or in single words and phrases, so that you know where you're going before you write. Mark your notes for the elements that match your plan.

And choose an ending, so you (and your readers) have a sense of destination and know when to quit.

Writing tightly

Now, with your outline or marked-up notes at hand, create a draft. And keep a few things in mind:

• Don't waste time clearing your throat. Go straight to your main point, and use your strongest material to take your readers there. Use only scenes or anecdotes that move the story along, ignoring the rest of your notebook (or, if you simply must see it in writing, go back and cut it later).
• Don't use quotes just to have them in your story. Target the ones that work, that convey information with more impact than you can deliver by paraphrasing.
• As best you can, keep to one idea per sentence. That makes them more understandable. But also vary your sentence length and complexity so it doesn’t sound like a first-grade reading text.
• Put your best material at the end of the sentence or paragraph. As Poynter's Roy Peter Clark says: Any word at the end of a sentence plays jazz.
• Use attribution sparely. Use only as much as the reader needs to avoid confusion or to hear you say, “I didn't make this up.”
• Use proper nouns — titles, names of organizations — as little as possible. They clutter sentences.
• Declare war on "to be" verbs, which lack power. Seek verbs that work hard: "amble" instead of "walk" or "smash" instead of "break."
• Read your work aloud to give your ear a sense of its pace and rhythm. If it's difficult to speak, it's equally hard to read. If it sounds out of tune, go back and sharpen your nouns and verbs.
• Finally: Revise, revise, revise. Be tough on every word. Do the hard work now and you'll spare yourself some agony later when the copy desk calls.
• In general, prefer short words, sentences and paragraphs. Simplify your prose. Search your copy for redundancies and clutter. Throw out every word you can without ruining the sentence's meaning or rhythm.
• Clutter, author William Zinsser tells us, is the disease of American writing. Each time we use more words than we need, or a long word when a shorter one will do, or an adjective or adverb that means the same as the word it modifies (leisurely saunter), we drive readers crazy. And then we drive them away.
• When you write, assume that your reader would rather be doing something else than drinking in your mellifluous prose. Then assume "something else" is exactly what they’ll do if you serve them copy that is flabby and unclear.

Tips for tighter writing

1. Use an outline every time you write. Not the elaborate Roman numeral job taught in Ms. Quahog's English class. Just a brief list of the most important points arranged in the logical order for telling.
2. Challenge every word. Write fast, edit slow. During the final edit, challenge each word. If it's not necessary, throw it out. Such as “not” and “out” in that sentence. If it's unnecessary, toss it.
3. Use the active voice. Joe slapped Nefferriti is shorter, more vigorous and more clear than Nefferriti was slapped by Joe.
4. Identify redundancies, pleonasms (true facts) and tautologies (widow woman). How? Learn to recognize them. Memorize them. Then zap them from your copy.
5. Focus on prepositions. If you write a sentence with more than two prepositional phrases, you may be stuffing the sentence. Consider recasting it to eliminate a phrase or make it into two sentences. Unless it destroys the rhythm, turn prepositional phrases into modifiers or possessives. The stories about Kaczynski becomes The Kaczynski stories. The house owned by Mrs. Smith becomes Mrs. Smith's house.
6. Stay conversational. To an extent, try to write as you speak. The closer you come to your speaking rhythms and natural word choices, the clearer and more engaging your copy will be. Of course, written English is always more formal and thoughtful than spoken language. Listeners will forgive a speaker's mistakes and meanderings and "and-uhs." But a reader forgives a writer nothing. You have, after all, thought out each word, have you not? At least that's what the reader thinks.
7. Hammer adjectives and adverbs. We write about people and things, so good writing is made of nouns and verbs. When you run across an adjective or adverb, see if you need it. Eliminate those that carry the same meaning as the noun or verb: mumbled unclearly, unhappy frown.
8. Keep sentences short. Good writers average about 14 to 17 words a sentence. That doesn't mean all of their sentences are 14 to 17 words. Nor does it mean you should abandon the occasional long sentence. Listen to the sound of the sentences by reading them aloud. If some are short and some are longer, that's good. From variety comes rhythm. From rhythm comes reader interest and enjoyment.
9. Avoid expanded phrases. This point in time is an expanded phrase. Its equivalent, now, is a fine, short word. Choose the fine, short word and substitute it for expanded, bloated phrases.
10. Watch for Latins and Greeks. After the Normans invaded England, Latin words became preferred by the country's royalty, clergy and scholars. Latin words were, and still are, more formal and indirect than their dirt cheap Anglo-Saxon equivalents. On the other hand, Anglo-Saxon, the honest language of peasants, packs a wallop. In Anglo-Saxon, a man who drinks to excess is not bibulous but a drunk, a man who steals is not a perpetrator, but a thief, and a man who is follically-impaired is not glabrous, but bald. Direct language is powerful language. Then comes Greek, the language of science. Science is nice. Science is good. But using complicated scientific words can make copy dense and difficult to understand. Moreover, it can make it sound pretentious. Of course you cannot -- and should not — drop all words of Latin or Greek derivation from your work. Many times they will be perfect. But first, try to think of a down-home Anglo-Saxon substitute.
11. Replace words that end with the suffixes -ality, -ation, -ence, -ization, -ize, -ocentrism and -wise.
12. Beware of the overuse of subordinate clauses, especially ones that begin a sentence.
13. Read your stuff aloud. We write for the inner ear, not the eye. If you’re writing long, you’ll hear it (and likely be signaling for oxygen). If you can find a sucker, have him read your stuff to you.
14. Keep your language specific. Don’t write, “They had a stormy marriage that included many physical confrontations.” Write, “During their marriage, she punched him, choked him and once kicked him down the stairs.”
15. Describe with care. Description is good, but remember your Hemingway: Good writing is architecture not interior design. When you describe, be specific.
16. Avoid bloated phrases and creeping nouns. Re-cast phrases such as “mental problem area” or “precipitation activity.” Watch for them in any use of the words “situation,” “field” or “condition.” Don’t let a robbery become a crime situation, or a lawsuit become a legal situation. Don’t write that people work in the legal field or medical field when they are lawyers or doctors. Don’t tell readers about war conditions or weather conditions when war or weather do the job.
17. Make sentences positive. As Strunk and White recommended, rather than writing “He was not paying attention to her,” write, “He ignored her.” Readers want to know what happened, not what didn't happen.
18. Eliminate expletives. Rewrite any sentence you begin with “There is” or “It is.” They waste space, are wordy and usually meaningless. Recast a sentence such as "There is no reason why he left home" to "He left home for no reason."
19. Don’t use qualifiers. “May,” “somewhat,” “a few,” “rather,” “very,” “little,” “quite.” Remember, again, Strunk and White: Qualifiers suck the blood out of prose.
20. Leave out adverbs when tense carries the meaning. "Now" in the sentence "now playing at the Midland Theatre," for example, is superfluous.

Writing tighter while writing well

The best newspapers run stories in a variety of lengths. Clear, readable dailies; good yarns; brights and shorts; the occasional narrative, series or takeout. Long or short, though, stories should earn their length. We have become more vigilant about this in recent months because the news hole grows and shrinks with the economy. Right now, it’s shrinking.

So, how do we pack the same amount of news into less space? It’s all in selection — the scenes you choose, the details you include, the words you pick, the people you quote. Writing is an act of choice and control; either you make deliberate choices, or you make inadvertent ones. Either you control the story, or it controls you. Here are some thoughts on getting your story to behave exactly as you would like — coming in docile, on time, logically organized and at the right length.

• Write a budget
  We often turn in budgets that are the lead of the story rather than its nut graf. These budgets are nice for showing off pretty writing or a compelling anecdote, but they’re useless as a tool for focusing. Try writing a nut graf as your early budget. Writing a quick, clear paragraph that synopsizes the story forces you to focus. Your completed story will have a clearer point, be easier to write and be much more likely to be written to length.
• Tell one story
  “My story has many arms.”
  “My story is going in a whole bunch of directions.”
  “I have too much information.” If you don’t focus before you write, you’ll likely not focus at all. The result will be a story that sprawls, confuses the reader and runs long. Figure out the one story you want to tell, or the one point you need to make, and then don’t let yourself get sidetracked. Remember: There are such things as graphics, sidebars and folos.
• Read aloud
  Wordiness is more apparent when you read aloud. You’ll hear when you’ve repeated yourself; you’ll be able to tell when sentences go on too long. If you’re gasping for air by the time you hit the period, the period came too late.
• Shorten your sentences
  In general, you want crisp, clear sentences with one thought per sentence. There’s power in short sentences if you’ve picked vibrant verbs and concrete nouns. By eliminating adjectives, adverbs and multiple examples, you can shorten your story and give it more punch. Save the long sentences for thoughts, ideas and observations that deserve the space.
• Kill your babies
  Often, reporters tuck asides and observations into stories where they don’t belong. If you’re looking to trim, consider these doomed.
• Don’t quote everybody
  Deep reporting is crucial, but unless it’s a sensitive, controversial story, you don’t have to quote several people making the same point. In features, sometimes we feel obligated to quote people because they’ve given us their time and opened their hearts. But our final obligation is to the reader, not the source. Drop a note thanking the source for his or her time. Warn him or her that he might not make print.
• Don’t tell everything
  In news stories, pick your points. Don’t try to cram in everything you know. Become the expert and then distill the information. In narratives — or any chronological stories — we often think we need to lead the reader every step of the way. Not true. Think stepping stones, not a sidewalk. Pick your scenes and stitch them together with transition. Make the path clear, and the reader will follow.
• Measure frequently
  From the moment you begin writing, keep your budgeted length in the front of your mind. H&J the story as you go to see how you’re doing. If you’re budgeted at 20 inches and you’re already at 12 by the end of the nut graf, you’re in trouble.
• Don’t use three words when one word will do
  Think of all those wordy phrases we stick into our stories, especially when we’re on deadline and we go on autopilot: In a surprise move ... will conduct an investigation into ... made a statement that... despite the fact that... Say they are the opinion of... make use of... In the amount of... on an experimental basis ... in the vicinity of... at this point in time. There are zillions of them. They’re dangerous and sneaky because we are so used to them that we read right past them. But look at how many words you could save if you took a fresh look and trimmed. Look at how much more punch your sentences could have. (Note: You can read more about this in Chapter Three, “Clutter,” of William Zinsser’s book “On Writing Well.”)
• Write a first draft without notes
  You’ll remember the good stuff. You’ll forget the irrelevant stuff. Paging through your notebook as you compose is a good way to toss all kinds of unnecessary stuff into a story.
• Be concrete
  Instead of “procure,” how about “buy?” Instead of prior to, how about “before?” Instead of “conduct an investigation into,” how about “investigate?” Concrete sentences are clear. They are uncluttered. They are understandable. They are often short.
• Give yourself time
  Remember that it takes longer to write short than it does to write long. Writing short requires more rewriting and more self-editing. As Zinsser says, “Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair.”

Anecdotes: perfect ways to lead?

An anecdote can be the perfect way to lead readers to the rest of your story. Or, the perfect way to lead them away from it.

So, what determines whether you use an anecdote or a catchy story with a beginning, middle and end as a lead?

First, remember that an anecdotal lead can provide a “real person” to your story and be effective when used correctly. Second, it is only one way to lead a story. The other ways include the straight news lead, the scene-setting lead and the narrative lead. And third, not using an anecdotal lead doesn’t mean that you can’t use pertinent details, a good ending or any other elements needed for good writing in a story.

To help you in your decision, here are some tips on when to use or not to use an anecdotal lead.

Use an anecdotal lead when it...

• Provides a quick link to the main theme of the story. Ask whether the anecdote adds or carries the main theme or focus of the story and whether it flows into your connecting parts. If so, use one. However, be sure that you get to point of the story quickly, usually within the first three or four paragraphs. This is especially true when your story jumps after only a few paragraphs from Page 1 or a section cover with several stories on it.
• Illustrates a major point in your story and provides meaning to the reader until the story’s end. This occurs when the person portrayed in the anecdote is described in or talks about a problem or issue. The story then features experts talking about the problem and then returns to the person in the anecdote and his or her response or reaction to what’s being done or discussed.

Do not use an anecdotal lead when it...

• Lures readers into a story by dangling a great item in front of them and then defrauds by dropping the person in the great item from the rest of the story.
• Takes too long to get to the main point or nut graf of the story. With a long anecdote, the reader may begin wondering why it is so important and wander to another story or elsewhere. Often, the writer is too wordy or hasn’t rewritten the lead often enough to shorten the anecdote. Editors then must work with the reporter to rewrite it, delete it or use it somewhere else. (Also, if the anecdote is well-written but too long, it could be used as a sidebar or as an example later in the story.)
• When it actually takes away from the focus or theme of your story. Sure, it’s a great anecdote, but does it really add to your story or detract from it? If you’re unsure, talk with your editor or a peer before writing the lead to determine whether the anecdote is pertinent.

Think of an anecdotal lead as if you’re a tourist guide choosing between two pathways for readers. The correct one allows readers to walk through your story and its theme easily and with few obstacles. The wrong one provides an immediate obstacle for readers, excites them before they fall off a cliff into a valley of boredom, or leaves them wondering what happened to the person who was introduced at the beginning of the pathway.

We’ve all led readers down the wrong pathways. The best writers, however, learn to choose the correct leads or pathways consistently.

Ten leads that shout, “Ugh!”

Don’t get caught spinning these cliché leads that babble unoriginality

We’ve all seen those leads — the ones where we say to ourselves: “Hey, now that’s original!” or “Haven’t I read that somewhere else before?” Reporters who write cliché leads haven't invested the time to answer key questions: 1) What’s my story about? 2) What makes this newsworthy for my readers? 3) How can I draw my readers into this story and keep them reading? 4) What’s the most interesting theme of this story? The list goes on. The more key questions you ask of yourself and your story, the better prepared you'll be to become original with your lead.

If you write one of these leads, it’s time to ask yourself some questions:

• It poured rain, but spirits weren’t dampened
  When was the last time you saw an event where it rained and everybody was happy? Unless you’ve talked to everyone, such a lead is inaccurate. If weather really is the theme, give readers a human interest angle that really shows how people coped. And give physical examples. Writing about “spirits” isn't very reader-friendly, unless you're covering a wine festival.
• (Fill in the blank) died yesterday.
  The ultimate “thud” obituary lead. Remember that many families and friends clip obituary stories as keepsakes. Most obituaries are tributes. The best obituaries bring people to life. After all, life comes before death. Enterprising reporters look beyond death to spin a story of life.
• (Fill in the blank) is the place to be this weekend
  Yeah, like we haven’t seen this one before in an advertisement. Stop writing like the promotional representative from the local tourism bureau. Isn’t it interesting that reporters who write these kinds of leads rarely ever attend the events themselves. If the reporter who wrote the lead doesn't plan on attending “the place to be” then how can he or she expect to inspire readers to go?
• (Fill in the blank) may have been (blank), but (fill in the blank).
  It’s the all-time favorite all-purpose lead. It has 101 uses. Just pick an event, and fill in the blanks. It’s easy because rather than pick one theme to emphasize, you can play two themes off each other. Unfortunately for readers, they’ve seen this “formula” lead 101 times in everything from sports to news. Do your readers a favor, be more original.
• It’s every parent’s worst nightmare
  Here’s another one-size-fits-all lead that’s been overused to death (no pun intended). Don’t generalize tragic events with leads that are generic. As a reporter, it’s your job to bring human perspective to tragedy, not recycle a cliché that's been used a million times before (and unfortunately, is still being used).
• It’s a day (fill in the blank) will never forget
  We all have days we will never forget. So what else is new? Find out. If it’s such a memorable day, surely there’s a hook for a better lead.
• The community is in shock
  Avoid “telling” the obvious. Of course a community is in shock after a tragedy. Want to capture shock for your readers? Gather compelling stories of shock. That will “show” shock to your readers.
• (Fill in the blank) is not your typical kid
  Just another “typical” lead that goes nowhere. Rather than telling your readers that someone is different, try showing instead.
• ‘Tis the season . . .
  It’s Ho Ho Horrible. Try capturing the spirit of the season . . . and, oh yeah, don’t use the spirit of the season, either.
• It was a rockin’ good time
  If you cover a concert in your community as a news story, don’t write like a reviewer. Besides, not everyone likes to rock. If it was such a good time, you should have lots of angles to spin a story that rocks your readers’ interest.

Strong from the start

Readers give you just a few seconds to capture their interest before their eye moves on to the next story or photo. You need a crisp lead and a strong focus to keep the reader going.

Keep a sharp focus

To write a strong lead, you need to identify and understand the focus of your story. Using any or all of these techniques before you even start writing can help strengthen your story, especially the critical top few paragraphs:

• Ask what the story is about
  As you gather information and as you write, ask yourself frequently why a reader would want to read it. Bruce DeSilva of The Associated Press suggests asking these questions as you try to find the story’s focus: Why do you care about this? Why did you want to write this story in the first place? What touches you emotionally? Who is benefiting/being harmed, making money/losing money? How are readers being affected by what you have found? What is new here? When you know what the story is about, you know what you need to tell the reader at the top of the story.
• Write a theme statement
  Jack Hart of The Oregonian suggests that before you write the story, try writing a theme statement of no more than six words. This will help you identify the focus. As you write the lead, the nut graf and any difficult parts of the story, refer to the theme statement and make sure you’re maintaining the focus.
• Write a headline
  Writing a headline for your story might help find your focus. Or a logo, if it’s a series. Or a budget line. Whichever of these devices you use, you have to write a good one. As DeSilva says, “No ‘Unit Mulls Probe’ garbage.” After you’ve finished the story, take another look at the headline. Make sure the point that you addressed in the head is high in the story or you lost your focus.
• Tell your story in three words
  Bill Luening of The Kansas City Star recommends identifying your focus by boiling your story down to a three-word sentence: a noun, an active verb and an object: “These generally emerge as themes rather than a story focus, but they can lead to a theme statement. Maybe if the story is a narrative, you can get them to outline the complication, development and resolution this way. The story of the Pied Piper then would be: Rats overrun city. City hires ratman. Ratman kills rats. City stiffs ratman. ratman steals children. Moral: Keep your word. Or ... flutists kick butt."
• Tell someone about your story
  Especially if you are struggling to find the focus, you may find it helpful to tell someone about the story. For some people, conversation forces brevity and focus. DeSilva suggests the bus stop test used by Henry McNulty, former ombudsman at The Hartford Courant: “Suppose you are at a bus stop and someone leans out the bus window and shouts, ‘What is that story you are working on?’ The bus engine starts and begins to pull away from the curb. What are you going to shout?”
• Find the surprise
  Did something surprise you as you researched this story? Maybe that should be your focus.
• Identify the emotion
  Luening asks writers, “Where does the emotion lurk? Where, as a friend of mine here calls it, is the ‘emotional center’ of what they’ve discovered?”
• Use story elements
  You can find your focus by identifying the story’s most important elements. Is this a plot-driven story, or is character the most important element? Or setting? Or conflict?
• Organize your information
  Identify the most important points of your story and the information that most clearly supports those points. This should be the heart of the story and in many cases the total story. If you identify more than three or four points, you probably have too many. An outline may help you organize.

Writing your lead

Your lead sets the pace for your story. A brief, breezy lead invites the reader into a story with the promise of a lively pace. A ponderous lead invites the reader to move to the next story, in which case it doesn't matter how long or how good the rest of your story is.

• Start early
  As you’re reporting, think about the lead. Are you observing an exchange that might provide a scene the lead? Did you just hear the fact that belongs in the lead? Don’t lock in on one lead so that you miss a better one that comes up. Use the reporting process as an audition for potential leads. Write them down as they occur to you, either in your notebook or on the screen.
• Write as you report
  After your first interview or two, start writing. You may not have your lead yet, but starting to write gets your mind into the story earlier. Keep writing after subsequent interviews. Write each time as though this is the story. You may write two or three leads before you’re finished with the story. But, have you hurt your story if your seventh paragraph, or your 15th, has as much polish as your lead?
• Avoid the blank screen
  Too many writers spend too long laboring over the lead before they get started writing. If you don’t have a good idea for a lead, write a simple declarative sentence and get on with the story: “The school board meeting discussed education Monday.” Yes, it’s dull. No, you’d never turn that in. But it may get you started and keep you from wasting time staring at the blank screen. Writing the story may help you find your lead. Then, go back and write the better lead.
• Use story elements
  Decide which is the strongest element in your story: plot, character, setting, conflict, theme. Your lead should focus on the strongest element. Or, perhaps the lead should highlight the intersection of two elements: a character in conflict, perhaps. If plot is the strongest element, beware of starting at the beginning. Newspaper readers and editors may not read long enough to find out how it comes out. Consider starting at the climax, or at least at a critical moment that establishes the conflict.
• Don’t forget the basics
  If you’re stuck for a lead, ask which of the five Ws or How is the most important question for this story.
• Expand on the basics
  Maybe your lead lies not in one of the five Ws, but in a related question: How much? So what? What next? Why not? Who benefits? Who’s hurt?
• Write without your notes
  This is a helpful technique for your whole first draft, but it’s especially helpful in writing the lead. Notes can be a distraction. Go back to them later when you’re checking facts.
• Get to the point
  If you use an anecdotal or scene-setting lead that delays your explanation of the underlying issue, introduce or at least allude to the issue in your lead.
• Entice the reader
  Don’t treat your lead as a suitcase into which you will cram as much as you can fit. Regard it more like a g-string, brief and enticing. If your lead captures the essence of your story in a few words, the reader will read on to learn the facts. You don’t need them all in the lead. A long lead shows a lack of confidence, as if you don’t believe I’ll read the whole story so you have to tell me as much as you can as fast as you can.

Strengthening your lead

Once you’ve finished the story, go back and strengthen your lead, even if it’s good and especially if it’s long.

• Challenge every word
  However long your lead is, consider whether it could be shorter. If it’s longer than 30 words, it’s almost definitely too long. A lead that long has to flow smoothly to work, and few leads that long flow smoothly. Try writing a lead of 10 words or fewer. Maybe you can’t for this story, but it’s always good to try. Especially if your lead is more than 20 words, challenge each piece of the lead and ask whether that actually has to be in your very first paragraph.
• Challenge the verbs
  Are you using the strongest appropriate verb? Is it in active voice? Never use a form of the verb “to be” in your lead without trying some alternatives. Sometimes it’s the only accurate verb, but see if a stronger verb works. Challenge other weak verbs, such as have, do and get.
• Avoid vague phrases
  If your lead starts with (or uses) vague phrases such as “there are” or “it is,” see if you can rewrite it with strong, specific subjects and verbs.
• Keep it simple
  Ask whether you’re trying to tell too much in your lead. Are you answering all the five Ws when a couple could wait until the second graf? Don’t try to cram everything into your lead.
• Make one point
  Does your lead have multiple points? If so, perhaps you haven’t decided what the story truly is about. Decide which point is most important and write a lead that makes just that point.
• Remember the news
  Does your lead get right to the news? Does it emphasize the news?
• Stamp out punctuation
  Many of the best leads have one piece of punctuation, a period. Regard multiple commas or dashes as red flags. See if you can write a smoother sentence with just one comma or none. If you have lots of punctuation in the lead, read it aloud so you can hear whether it’s choppy or whether it flows smoothly.
• Minimize attribution
  Attribution lengthens a lead as well as weakening it. Can you state something as a fact rather than hedging it with attribution? If not, do you need to bolster your reporting so you can write more authoritatively?
• Subtract numbers
  If you use any numbers in your lead, their impact must be strong and their meaning and relationship must be immediately evident. If the reader has to stop and ponder the numbers, they don’t belong in the lead. (They may not even belong in the story, but in a graphic). Rarely could you justify using more than two numbers in a lead.
• Challenge prepositions and conjunctions
  Identify each prepositional phrase in the lead and consider whether the information it adds is worth the words it adds. Can it be replaced with a single adjective or adverb? If your lead contains “and,” or “or” “but,” consider whether you’re introducing another element that you should save for the second paragraph.
• Challenge adjectives and adverbs
  Consider whether the lead would be stronger without each of the adjectives adverbs. What do they add? Can you eliminate them by using more specific (and stronger) nouns or verbs?
• Challenge phrases
  Can you eliminate a phrase without hurting the lead? Can you replace a phrase with a single word?
• Write an alternative lead
  Write a shorter lead and evaluate the two side by side. Or, write a lead taking another approach. Don’t accept a long lead without testing it against a shorter lead.
• One hedge is plenty
  If you’ve hedged the central statement of your lead, with a “may” or “might,” do you really need to hedge again by attributing it? Consider whether you can write a stronger statement in the first place. Or at least consider whether you can make the hedged statement without attribution.
• Don’t sweat the details
  An important detail might strengthen your lead, but many details bog down a lead. Tighten your lead by cutting details that can wait until later in the story. Rarely do you need both a person’s name and identification in the lead. If the name is not immediately recognizable to the reader, just use the identification in the lead. Or if the person is in the story as Everyman, just use the name and tell the reader later who he is.
• Don’t get lost in process
  On many beats, particularly government and court beats, reporters must learn and understand lots of processes. Sometimes the reporter loses perspective and thinks the process is as important to readers as it is to sources. Readers care most about results. If your lead focuses on process, or includes some process details, consider whether it would be stronger to focus on results.
• Try to make fun of your lead
  Did you write any obvious statements that will draw a “duh!” from the reader? Do you have any awkward juxtapositions or double entendres? If you know a smart-ass colleague who makes fun of such stories in the paper, enlist his or her aid by asking him or her to read your story in advance. If something does get by him or her, at least you know he or she won't be the one making fun this time.
• Focus on reader impact
  Does your lead tell the reader why this story is important to him or her? If not, should it?
• Say what is, not what isn’t
  Sometimes you have to tell the reader what isn’t, but usually you should tell the reader what is. If your lead has a not or a never, consider whether you can recast to say what is.
• Punch quickly
  Examine the first few words of your lead. Are they strong? Do they get to the point immediately? Can you open with key words that immediately identify what the story is about?
• Close with a kick
  Examine the last few words of your lead. Are they strong? Do they carry the reader right into the next paragraph?

Keep it rolling

Your lead is just the first hook for the reader. The first few paragraphs make your case to the reader. Especially with a Page One story that jumps, the reader has plenty of reason to move on if you don’t make the point of the story clear and make the story compelling in the top several paragraphs.

• Write without your notes
  You have most of the story in your head. You know what the most important points are. You remember the embarrassing contradictions, the clever quotes, the damning evidence. So, tell the story without the distractions of that mess of notebooks, faxes and photocopies. Flipping through notebooks can distract you from your focus. Of course, when you’re done, you need to return to your notebooks and other resources to ensure accuracy.
• Keep the end in sight
  Decide where you want your story to end. Keep the end in view as you write, and use the information and anecdotes that lead you to that end by the most direct route.
• First five paragraphs
  Gannett newspapers teach staff members to give stories a strong focus by making sure the first five paragraphs cover these four elements: news, impact, context and human dimension. If that seems too formulaic to follow with every story, it’s still a valuable tool to use if you’re having trouble focusing your story.
• Nut grafs.
  Journalists disagree about the necessity (and sometimes the definition) of “nut grafs.” But this much is difficult to dispute: High in every story, you need to tell the reader why he or she should read this story today. A good nut graf often is the best way to achieve that. A nut graf may be an elaboration of the theme statement you wrote before even writing your story. Stories that often need nut grafs include stories with anecdotal leads, issue stories or controversy stories. The nut graf might place the anecdote in context or answer a question raised in the lead or explain what's at stake in the controversy. The nut graf tells the reader why this story is relevant. Work the nut graf into the story smoothly. You don't want a “stop the reader” graf that interrupts the flow of the story or insults the reader's intelligence. Kate Long of the Charleston Gazette cautions against writing a nut graf that becomes flour in the brownie: “You’re eating this nice brownie, and suddenly you hit a chunk of dry flour. Young reporter is trying to satisfy the editor who (reporter thinks) insists on the graph, so he or she sticks in a dense paragraph that breaks the flow of the story.”

Tell your story in layers

Your story is more than the prose that you write. Your story is the full package of information and images that your newspaper presents to the reader. As the journalist whose name will appear most prominently and as the journalist usually with the largest investment of time and pride in the story, you have to assume responsibility for the full package and take an active role in its planning and production. Telling the story in “layers” presents the main points of your story to the hurried reader who will not take the time to read the full story. It also gives you multiple chances to lure the scanning reader. Maybe the headline alone won’t draw the reader into the story. But, a pull-quote or graphic makes the reader stop and read. If your interest in the tasks of presentation won't motivate your involvement, perhaps vanity will: More people will read and remember your story if your newspaper presents it in an eye-catching package. Consider all the ways you can present information, in addition to your story. Each of these is a layer of the total story your newspaper presents to the reader:

• Staff photographs
  Can your staff shoot pictures of the people, places and events of your story? How can photos help tell the story? How can they draw the reader’s attention to the story? Plan early with the photo staff. Don’t be bashful about making suggestions, but respect the professional skill of the photographer to come up with better ideas than you might suggest.
• Archival photographs
  Check your files, paper and electronic, for historical photographs that may tell part of the story.
• Donated photographs
  Ask the characters you interview for photographs they have taken that might show events or places where you were not present. Seek candid photographs and mug shots of dead or missing people you write about. Seek youthful photographs of people you write about if your story will deal with that period in their lives.
• Illustrations
  A staff photographer or artist might be able to create an effective illustration to help tell the story and attract the reader’s eye. Or, a character might be able to provide illustrations done by others.
• Artist’s renderings
  When your community is planning a new building or project, the architect, engineer or developer usually can provide an illustration showing how it will look when finished.
• Maps
  A simple locator map might help the reader understand where an event took place. Or, a complex map might show how and where an event unfolded.
• Diagrams
  If the reader might wonder, “How did that happen?” or, “How does that work?” consider a diagram to provide a clearer answer than you can in prose. Again, you can produce a staff-generated diagram or you might come across a diagram in your reporting that you can use with permission.
• Timelines
  A timeline places a specific event or series of events in context with other events. This can be simple text, or you can turn it into a graphic or perhaps illustrate with photos of some of the events.
• Chronologies
  A chronology details how an event unfolded, placing the steps in order. A chronology can be all text or can tie into a map or diagram that explains key steps. If you don’t have a map or diagram, photos of key people or events might enhance the chronology.
• Glossaries
  A glossary explains terminology relating to a particular issue. This doesn’t absolve the writer from explaining some terms in context in the story, but it gives an opportunity for more detailed definitions.
• Use-it boxes
  Pull out useful information for the reader into a box that attracts the eye quickly. This may be something the reader will be looking for later when he or she returns to the story. Use-its, also called go-and-do boxes, might have the date and time of an event, ticket price, location, a phone number for more information, how to make donations, how to volunteer, who can participate, Web sites, etc. Consider how the reader might act in response to your story. If you write a story that moves the reader to act, put the information that tells the reader how to act in one place that’s easy to find.
• What’s-next box
  Especially in a running story, consider a box telling readers what to expect next. This is essential in a series.
• Tables, charts and graphs
  If you have more than two related numbers, consider presenting them in a table, chart or graph. Numbers almost always work better in one of these formats than in prose. The more numbers you use, the more important it is that you simplify them for the reader in one of these forms.
• Statistics
  Does your story include statistical information that can be presented in an understandable form as a separate element, such as a box score?
• Cast of characters
  If the story involves several people, consider a separate element with mug shots of the characters and thumbnail sketches. This can be simple biographical information or it can include fun facts that don’t really fit into the narrative but add to the character development of the total package.
• Bio box
  If you’re writing about a particular newsmaker, consider a box with some basic information — age, education, occupation, family and perhaps a fun fact or two. With both the bio box and the cast of characters, some overlap with the story is inevitable and desirable. But, exact duplication is a waste of your space and the reader's time. Make the bio box or cast of characters have mostly new information. Mug shots or even a wide candid shot add to a cast of characters or a bio box.
• Fact boxes
  Sometimes, especially with a complicated story, a fact box summarizing key points is helpful to the reader.
• By the numbers
  You can bring several disparate facts about a story together in an easy and eye-catching way in a “by the numbers” box that features the numbers in large type and explains them in smaller type.
• Comparisons
  These can be informative (comparing features of an existing law with a pending bill) or humorous (listing what’s in and what’s out). You can do a comparison as simple text in two columns. But, some photos or other art will make it more appealing.
• Lists
  Lists almost always work better as a separate element, even if it’s just text, than in the prose of a story.
• Pull quotes
  Does a particular quote seem to sum up the story? Consider highlighting it in a box, perhaps with a photo of the speaker.
• Fresh quotes
  Don’t just highlight duplicated quotes that you pull from the story. You might present some quotes — either from characters in the story or person-in-the-street quotes from a news event — that stand on their own, giving the reader another layer of the story. These can run with or without photos of the speakers. You can also use quotes — fresh or from the story — as reefers.
• Rails and strips
  You can pull a mix of these different elements together in a vertical rail or a horizontal strip that will help frame your package and give the browsing reader several layers to draw him or her into the story.
• Sidebars
  Remember the old standby of sidebars. You can use a sidebar for any of a variety of reasons. Perhaps the information would disrupt the flow of the main story. Or, maybe it would get lost in the main story and really deserves its own headline.
• Main headlines
  The main headline will be one of the first layers that catches the reader's attention, many times the very first. It needs to convey the essence of the story in tone and information.
• Deck headlines
  Secondary headlines known as decks help give the reader more information, another chance to draw the reader into the story. While the main headline is written in “headlinese,” decks are increasingly written in full, conversational sentences. The deck should always provide additional information. If the main head raised a question or omitted an important point, the deck should address it. You can also do a series of deck heads, perhaps with bullets, summarizing various points in a big story. A deck can appear immediately below the main headline or can be dropped into the body type.
• Captions
  The caption is the headline that ties the art into the total package. Often the photograph or graphic will carry a headline over the top. Consider how this headline works with the photograph or graphic and with the whole package. Watch for redundancy or contradiction between the caption and the headline(s) on the story. On a Page One centerpiece, the caption may be the only headline in the package above the fold. Consider how it stands alone to entice a potential reader to buy the paper.
• Cutlines
  Cutlines — the words beneath a photo, need to explain the photo — and tie it into the story. Avoid cutlines that explain obvious action in the photo or that simply repeat content in the story. The ideal cutline will identify any recognizable people, answer any questions the photo raises, tie the photo into the story and add a little information that’s not in the story. All in a few words.
• Logos
  Series, whether consecutive or occasional, call for logos, telling the reader this is special and reminding them of what has come before. Or, you can use the logo of a company or organization as an illustration to help draw the reader’s eye.

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