News writers usually use a special style and format in making the opening sentence or news headline (lead or lede). Although the popularity of newspapers is starting to decline due to the emergence of newer technologies, methods for writing effective news stories are still widely taught and used. In addition, this method can also provide valuable insights for each author.
Step
Part 1 of 2: Understanding the News Terrace
Step 1. Know the difference between lead and lede
In fact, the two terms refer to the same thing. In the past, the term lede was used by newspaper publishers to distinguish between a term referring to the beginning of a news story and a term referring to the molten lead used during the printing process.
Step 2. Create a news headline with the most important information
Newscore creation is based on the premise that you should save the best for first. The headline should be able to grab the reader's attention and briefly provide the most important information from the article.
The phrase "burying the lead" means to delay or hide the most important information. For example, a child may tell his mother that he has emptied the garage according to orders, but does not mention that he did so by destroying a car parked in the garage
Step 3. Focus on the core story to be made, not the conclusion
Unlike essays, books, or other written works, news articles are written with the assumption that the reader may not read the article to the end.
- Newspaper readers usually only read the first part of the news. In addition, editors also often cut off the end of the news so that the article focuses on the core of the news, not on the conclusion.
- Making news articles usually refers to an inverted pyramid structure, where the main information is at the top, and additional information is at the bottom.
Part 2 of 2: Writing Terrace News
Step 1. Ask 5W+1H questions
News terraces should usually be able to answer most or all of the key questions -- Who? What? When? Where? Why? and how?
For example, "A faulty heating ignited a massive fire 400 blocks off Grant Street at about two in the morning last night, and injured two firefighters and three families lost their homes."
Step 2. Make it concise
Typically, journalism students are taught to write the first sentence in the amount of 25 to 35 words, and no more than 40 words. This number is considered sufficient to provide a brief summary of the important details.
Step 3. Use active sentences
Active sentences can attract readers to continue to follow the storyline in a news article. Make sure the news core has highlighted the conflict or impact of an event being informed.
- Sentence editing called the Paramedic Method involves identifying and removing redundancies as well as passive sentences to support the use of simple verbs with "doer" as the subject.
- For example, compare "The state's highest office was re-assigned to John Doe by voters last night" and "Last night, voters re-assigned John Doe to the state's highest office."
Step 4. Break the rules when inspiration strikes
The writer is more like an artist than a scientist. Therefore, although the rules for writing news stories seem difficult, there are certain exceptions that are applied to produce quality news stories. For example:
- Making questions -- "Who would have thought that one phone call two years ago could bring down one of the bank's most famous families?"
- To use an anecdote -- "From Amy Smith's croaky chair nestled high above Ajax Field, the shot looked perfect; but still the referee's barely visible hand refused to agree."
- Postpone news stories by using questions, anecdotes, or other methods to attract readers without providing details. However, this method is usually better used on long articles, not "hard news" (important news that must be conveyed to the public immediately).
Step 5. Consider the benefits of news stories for any piece of writing
All writers, whether students who are pressed for time to write a reading report or writers who are already gray, would like to provide initial details that briefly and actively attract people to read the work they write.
