Research Tip: How to Ask Good Questions During a Research Interview

March 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Interviews can be an important part of the news writing process. They are a great resource to gather information, get direct quotes and even give a personal touch to some of the articles that you are writing. How much information you can use from your interview will depend upon how good or bad the interview questions are. If you do not ask the right questions you will not get enough information to use quotes from the interview.

Here are some tips on how to conduct a great interview for those that are looking to use the interview in a news story.

Do Your Research. It is important to do your research. Research both the topic that you are planning on writing about and the person that you are interviewing. This will allow you to create informative questions that you can use in your news articles.

Create Thoughtful Questions. Questions that require some thought behind them will come out more sincere than those that are one word answers. Try to ask questions that require the interviewee to think about their answers and give you a lot of information. Not only will it give you more time to think of new questions but it will also allow you to capture an imagine of the interviewee that you can use in your article.

Break-up Long Questions. Try to consider what the response might be for the questions that you are asking. Try to only ask the interviewee one or two questions at a time. This will allow them to answer all the questions and get you the information that you want. If you need to ask lots of questions break them up and follow the interviewee’s answers with the other questions.

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Guidelines for Writing a Hard News Article

March 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment

One of the first types of news writing that a journalist or freelance news writer learns is how to create a hard news article. Hard news articles are the bulk of the news stories that people read. When there is a story on local crime, the war, the economy or anything that requires a lot of facts chances are that the journalist will write the article using the hard news approach.

Hard news articles are different from those known as soft news because they do not play on people’s emotions and usually offer just the basic information on the topic of the article. While there will always be a slight bias when writing hard news does not rely upon opinions but sticks instead to the facts.

There are some general guidelines that writers can follow when trying to write up a hard news article. Here is a look at some of the guidelines that writers should follow.

Use the Inverted Pyramid. It is important to use the inverted pyramid setup when writing a hard news piece. The inverted pyramid allows writers to present the most important pieces of information first and slowly taper off into less important pieces of information.

Use A Nut Graph. A nut graph is an important piece that many hard news writers use. The nut graph will allow readers to have background information on the topic that they are reading about. This is important so that readers can understand what is going on in the story and why the story is important.

Research all Information. It is important in a hard news article that all resources and information be factually correct. Make sure that you research all information and statistics that you plan to use in your article.

Refrain from Using Quotes to Create a Lead. A hard news article must have a compelling lead to grab the reader’s attention. However, it is a good idea to avoid using quotes as this can often appear to be a soft news piece.

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Writing Tips: How to Create a Soft News Piece

March 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Newspapers and local websites love to feature stories that appeal to the emotions of the viewers and readers. These articles are generally known as soft news articles. Soft news articles are less strict with the structure of the article and allow the writer to show a little bit of creativity with the writing style. If you are starting out in the news writing industry there are a few guidelines that you should follow when writing and creating a soft news article. Here is a look at those guidelines.

Plan An Approach. Due to the fact that there are multiple ways that you can present a soft news topic it is important that you know exactly how you are going to approach the topic. You should know how you want to showcase your topic and what information you want readers to get from your article. This will help you when you are researching and writing the article.

Importance of Research. Just because the soft news articles appeal to the human emotions it does not mean that they can be factually incorrect. If you are writing a soft news piece you need to make sure that you conduct all the research that you would with a hard news piece. Make sure that all your facts are correct and that you gather as much information as possible on your topic.

Create a Voice for the Article. One of the ways that soft news articles stand out is the voice that the article has. Try to create some human emotion behind the article without appearing to be biased. This can come across in the setting, voice or characters that you use in your article.

Answer All Questions. A soft news piece still needs to answer all the journalistic questions. It needs to answer the who, what, where, why, when and how. Make sure that your article answers all these questions when writing it out.

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Ways to End A News Article

February 23, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Whether you a writing a hard news article or a soft news article, you must at some point finally end the article. Many journalists and news story writers often have a hard time figuring out exactly how to end their article. Do you just stop writing when you think you’re done? Do you create a conclusion as if it were a regular school report? Here is a look at how you should end a news article.

Summary of Facts. One of the popular ways to end a news article is to create a summary of the facts that are presented. While you don’t have to write every fact in the article in the summary you will want to re-write all the information that you want the article to answer. A great example of this is a story on a crime that the police are looking to resolve, you can wrap it up by talking about what the police are looking for and will do in the future.

Eye to the Future. Another great way to end a news article is through the eye on the future approach. This can be talking about what will happen in the future and what possible events the news article might lead to. Articles can end with any solutions that might come from the topic of the article or what people are doing to work to a solution.

Light-Hearted Ending. A light-hearted ending is a great way to end a soft news piece. Writers can end their article talking about a story that is related to the topic, a cute quote or a small amusing reference that is related to the topic. This type of ending will help the piece appeal to the reader’s emotional side and create a great soft news piece.

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Tips for Writing News Article Content in APA Style

February 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

One of the most common styles of writing for news writing is the American Psychological Association format, or the APA format. Almost all news articles are written using the APA style. This common style of writing makes it easier for editors to present a newspaper that has consistency even though it was written by various writers. Here is a guideline on how to make sure that your article follows the APA style format for the content that is written.

Create a Hook. All APA style news articles have some type of hook or lead. This is usually one or two sentences that will automatically grab any reader into the story that is written. Hooks need to be intriguing and force the reader to want to read the rest of the article.

Answer All Questions. The content of an APA style news article must answer all the questions that a reader might have. These questions include the whos, whats, wheres, whens, whys and hows of the topic. While you don’t need to go into great detail you need to give the reader enough information that they know what you are talking about and feel comfortable with the topic at hand.

Remain Objective. Almost all news articles that are written in APA style require that the writer remain objective on the topic that is being presented. It is important to think of the writer as a vessel for information and all that you are doing is writing it down and presenting it to the readers.

Write to the Audience. APA style articles require that a writer write in an active voice. This will allow the readers to feel as if they are a part of the article and not left out. You will also want to try to avoid slang words or jargon as it can be confusing to the readers and you want to appeal to a wide audience base.

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News Writing Information: Various Types of Leads

February 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment

When it comes to writing a news story one of the most important parts of the article is the lead. With a wonderful lead to a news story you can pull in thousands of readers and even readers who would not normally read the story. On the reserve side with a bad lead you can push readers away or not attract their attention. Here is a look at what a lead to a news story is and the different types of leads that can be used for a number of news stories.

A lead in a news story involves the first few sentences of the story. A lead can involve anything from catchy phrases, quotes from well known figures in the area or even asking the reader a question. A lead is meant to stand out and grab the reader’s attention so that they are enticed to read the rest of the article.

There are two types of leads a news writer can use. There is a soft lead and a hard lead. A soft lead is something that is fluffy and creative. Soft leads can range from having a quote from a book, movie or celebrity, a catchy phrase or even asking the reader a question. A hard lead is more concrete with what it presents the reader. Hard leads usually present important facts to the reader in one to two sentences. A reader can generally walk away from a hard lead knowing the important parts of the news story after just reading one sentence.

The type of lead that is used when writing a news story depends on the story that is being presented and where the article is going. Usually pieces that are known as interest stories or fluffy pieces use a soft lead, while those that are meant to present cold hard facts will use a hard lead.

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Steps to Creating News Stories for Local Newspapers

February 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Many people assume that writing a news story takes hours of research. While there are stories out there that take research time and the ability to conduct interviews, there are also local news stories that are just perfect for your local newspaper. The key to developing and writing these types of news stories is knowing how to find a topic that might be of interest to not only yourself but to your readers.

Here are a few tips on how to find a news story for your local paper without having to spend hours finding a topic that might be of interest to yourself and your readers.

Create a List. Almost all writing starts with brainstorming and news writing is no different. Start by creating a list of things that you know about your local area. This can be hobbies that you engage in, organizations you volunteer for or events that your neighbors or you are hosting. Just sit down and create a list of everything that you know is going on around you in your local area.

Expand on the List. The next step is to expand on the list of ideas. Take each item on the list and try to think of areas that you can expand on. A great example of this is someone who plays softball through their local parks and recreation department. You could take that idea and expand it to talk about any new baseball fields, fundraising events, new uniforms or even hikes in fees to play the sport.

Start Your Research. After you have created expanded ideas from your list you can start your research. Try to think about local people that you can interview or ask questions as most people reading the local paper are interested in local people.

Take the Information and Write. Once you have the ideas and research you are ready to go. Just sit down and let the ideas flow. Sometimes creating a catchy headline works to inspire the story.

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How to Start Out Your News Story

February 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment

News articles can take a lot of work. There is the need to come up with a story, do the research, conduct interviews and then write the story in an unbiased way that will not only inform readers but will catch their attention. Many people who write news articles have a tough time figuring out how to go about writing their news article. These people generally have the topic and research but do not know how to go about getting the words on the paper. If you are one of those people here are some tips that will help you write a great news article.

Do Extensive Research. You cannot write a great news article without researching the piece first. The problem many writers run into is that they did not research the article enough and therefore do not hold enough knowledge to create an article that is informative and important to the readers. Make sure that you get as much information as possible on all aspects of the topic that you are writing about. This will help you when it comes time to write the story. Remember you can never have too much research.

Create an Approach to the Topic. Many writers have a hard time writing a news article because they do not know how to tackle the topic that they are covering. It is important that you take a few minutes to figure out how you are going to approach the topic. Make sure that you determine how you want to present information, what you want readers to get out of the article and how you want the article to flow. All of this will help you once you go to write the article.

Write Eye-Catching Leads. Readers like to read stories that have great leads this is why a great eye-catching lead is so important. Many writers spend most of their time creating great leads that will grab the reader. It is always a good idea to write several leads to a news story so that you can create a great news story.

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How the Inverted Pyramid Structure is Used for News Stories

February 1, 2011 by Leave a Comment

While it might appear to the casual news article reader that there is no logic to the information that is presented there is. Many news writers who write news stories for the major newspapers use a strategy known as the inverted pyramid to present their news stories. Here is a look at the inverted pyramid writing structure.

Imagine a pyramid that is standing on its tip. That is structure that many news writers use. The idea of the inverted pyramid is that all the important information is available to the reader at the top of the article. The headlines, leads and first paragraphs all contain everything that they want to know. However, as the reader continues to read the article the information becomes less important, until the article ends.

Here is an example of a news story that would be structured and written in a style that uses the inverted pyramid.

There as a tragic double murder in the local apartment complex. A news writer that was using the inverted pyramid structure would start out the story with a headline that reads “Tragic Ending For Two Apartment Dwellers”. This headline grabs the attention of the readers and makes them want to start reading the news article.

The first sentence of the news story would read something like “Two residents living at the local apartment complex were murdered last Thursday. They were found dead by their neighbor”. Under the inverted pyramid structure this presents all the information that a reader could want to know about the news story. If the reader were to talk away from the article they would know all the important facts.

The rest of the article would focus on the murder but could talk about evidence that might have been found, suspects, who was involved or even an interview with the local police chief. While these facts have to deal with the story they are not as important to the reader or the story.

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Voice Recorders

January 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Sometimes, the best ideas come from strange places such as working out or driving. If you have a large writing assignment handed to you, you may find yourself in a position to increase your productivity by keeping a recording device handy to record ideas as you get them. The benefits are they can be hands free and are less distracting when working out, walking, driving, etc., and can be used almost anywhere.

Mini-Cassettes

While most affordable, mini-cassettes are walking their way out the door of technology. They can still be found in some stores and online, starting around $13 at Walmart’s website, and can serve the function of voice recording for memo purposes.

Cell Phones

Many cell phones already come with a way to record memos. That may be all you need, but some have shorter recording times than what you may find convenient.

Digital Voice Recorders

These are the new trend available in many different styles with many different functions. The more in-expensive ones provide the basic functions of mini-cassettes such as recording and play back. They also usually let you organize information in files. The more expensive ones add convenience of USB connection to upload your recordings into the computer as a .wma or an .mp3.  If you want something to outlast its use in writing, the ones you can convert to the computer might be the way to go as you can record children’s voices, music, lectures, etc. to post online and share with friends and family.

You can find digital voice recorders at almost any store that sells electronics, but it is recommended to fully review different products and features as not all come with the same features. Amazon.com has quite a few different options with brands and models as well as great reviews and accurate ratings.

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