Considerations for Today

1. Considerations for Today Leads, Story Patterns, Voice, and Sourcing

2. Leads Two to pick from… • Direct…essential elements of the story show up in the first paragraph, which is usually no more than 35 words • Generally attached to hard news stories • More rigid than creative with regard to voice • Indirect…acts as a hook that inspires the reader to move to the second paragraph • Can be very succinct (three to five words) or drawn out (like an anecdote) • More creative than rigid with regard to voice

3. Story Patterns Three to pick from… • Inverted Pyramid…most important details up top (ordinarily in a direct lead), and details become less significant as the story progresses • Narrative…uses an indirect lead to capture the reader’s interest. Following the lead, the nut grafgives the main point of the story (just like a direct lead would in an inverted pyramid-style piece). Then the writer develops the details of the event as they happened, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. This portion of the story uses narrative techniques such as dialogue (quotes or conversation) and description. • Hourglass…This style is a combination of the inverted pyramid and narrative patterns. Think of a misshapen hourglass, the bottom bigger than the top (although our image doesn’t reflect that). That’s the shape of the hourglass story, the frame on which you’ll hang a story. It is comprised of three parts: • THE TOP: This is the beginning of the story. This includes the direct lead and three or four paragraphs giving the most important news. If readers stop at the top, they’ll understand the story and be informed. • THE TURN: This is the transition paragraph. It tells the reader that the narrative will begin. It often has a phrase attributed to a source in the story. For example: According to police, it all began when… • THE NARRATIVE: This is the bottom part of the story. It is told chronologically with a beginning, middle and end. Details, quotations and background information all go here.

4. Voice Two to pick from (generally speaking)… • Formal…which should be used when writing about serious topics • Informal…which can be used when writing about soft topics, like sports, fashion, and entertainment

5. Sourcing • What sources say, not who they are, should dictate their positioning in the story. • When a source is introduced, his/her first and last name should be provided. Each subsequent time s/he is mentioned, only the last name should be used. • Indicate who is speaking before indicating what was said. (e.g. Shenendehowa sophomore Jim Smith believes that…) • Balance direct quotes with paraphrased information, ensuring that the best quotes are the ones you do not paraphrase. • Make sure each source’s direct quote is isolated from other sources’ quotes. (i.e. Don’t place quotes from different speakers in the same paragraph.) • Don’t string quotes together. Instead, intermittently sprinkle them throughout the story.