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Writing News Stories and Headlines

Writing News Stories and Headlines. Chapter 7. Most Important Skill: Writing. Be a reader Understand the fundamentals: spelling, grammar, and punctuation Be comfortable with words Know the difference between good and bad sentences. Building on the Lead. 1. Grab interest Keep interest

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Writing News Stories and Headlines

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  1. Writing News Stories and Headlines Chapter 7

  2. Most Important Skill: Writing • Be a reader • Understand the fundamentals: spelling, grammar, and punctuation • Be comfortable with words • Know the difference between good and bad sentences

  3. Building on the Lead 1. Grab interest • Keep interest • Use Quotes • Use Transitions p. 154 in text • The Body of the Story -Retell Story in next few paragraphs -Most important to least important information

  4. Other Organizational Patters • Inverted pyramid • Most important to least important • Storytelling Style • Narrative (setting, characters, etc.) • Use anecdotes • Combination Style • Summarize 1st paragraph and the remaining- tell a story

  5. Appropriate Newspaper Style: Do’s and Don’ts • Avoid Offensive Language p. 163 • Be politically correct • Words worth considering p. 164 • Choose words carefully to avoid confusion - Edit sentences

  6. Cont. • Use clear, simple words • Write to communicate • P. 165 list • Jargon- inside language of groups • “spike that story” = “don’t publish that story” • Write straightforward sentences - Make easier to read

  7. Cont. • Avoid Other Common Hazards • Redundancy “2 A.M. in the morning” • Clichés- overworked, overused, trite expressions • “free as a bird” • P. 168- common clichés • Fear of repetition • Passive voice (weak)

  8. Headlines • Job is to lure reader into the story • Must be honest • Lively, interesting, sparkling verbs

  9. Headlines Cont. • Headline Styles • Centered • Flush-left/ Ragged-right • Hammerhead (big on top, small on bottom) • Other p. 171 • Making Headlines - More important the story, the larger the headline (and often longer)

  10. Cont. • Headline Writing Do’s and Dont’s • Telegraphic Style (extra words and trimmed) • Verb Tense- usually present • Punctuation- comma, quotation marks, and semicolon • Stylistic Consideration p. 173-74 • Pun use • Little use of alliteration

  11. Copyediting • Prepare for publication • Last chance to catch mistakes

  12. Master of stylebook Rules of English Good memory Good organization P. 177 Spelling demons P. 180-81 Symbols Accuracy Watch for mistakes Spell check Editing Logical read Flow well Attribution Providing the source of facts in a story The word of the copy editor

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