20 tips For Successful Journalists
As a journalist you have to write accurate news stories that appeal to your readers. These 20 tips will help you in your quest to write the best possible story.
- Think of the most interesting part of the story and put that in the very first paragraph - which reporters call the intro. If you can't decide which bit you should choose, imagine you were telling your friend about the story. You'll find that the way you tell it verbally will help you prioritise the facts.
- Make sure the key facts are as near to the top of the story as possible. If, for example, your editor cut the bottom three paragraphs out of the story to save space it should not lose any vital facts.
- Keep your paragraphs short and to the point but always use proper sentences.
- Avoid repetition. Once you've written one sentence containing a certain piece of information, there is no need to mention it again - unless it is part of a quote or you mentioned the fact briefly in your intro and need to expand on it later on.
- Include quotes in every story but only use a few that add colour and interest to your story. They should never generally be any higher than the third paragraph. You need to write the main facts in the first few sentences then include a quote.
- Remember that news is people. A story about a person will always grab your readers' attention more than an inanimate object.
- It's a sad fact that bad news sells newspapers. If you're writing a story which involves death then get it in your intro. For example, in the A Dickens Of A Train Crash story in the Victorian era, 10 people died and 50 people were hurt. This should be in your first paragraph because it's the most shocking fact.
- Always check that references to names are consistent. For example, in the Roman story Girl Gladiator Gored, it would be easy to start off calling Amazonia's opponent, Achillia, but end up spelling her name Achilia. Go back over your story at the end and check that names are spelled the same throughout.
- Use adjectives to bring life to your story - but don't use too many. For example, in the World War Two story you could describe the child evacuees as "frightened" or "terrified" but don't use the same word again in that story.
- Hyphens are a good way of adding impact to a sentence. But - as with adjectives - use sparingly.
- Always read your work back before you let your editor (or teacher!) read it. Check it at least twice for spelling mistakes, poor sentence structure and the general flow of the story. Remember, your readers are counting on you to tell them what is going on in the world. If you get it wrong there will be a lot of misinformed people out there. You have a responsibility to get it right.
- Make proper use of apostrophes.
- Make sure that you interview everyone who is connected to the story you are covering.
- "There" refers to a place, "their" refers to an item that belongs to them, "they're" is a contraction of "they are". "They're looking for their car over there."
- "Where" refers to a place, "were" is used to say something about a person thing or state, "we're" is a contraction of "we are" and "wear" refers to clothing. "We're impressed with what you are wearing. Where did you get your clothes? Your mother and I were very fashionable years ago but not anymore."
- When interviewing anybody you should always be polite and keep your cool.
- Take time to be accurate - mistakes could land you or the editor in court.
- You are only as good as your NEXT story - so keep your eyes and ears open for news.
- Be punctual. Nobody likes being kept waiting - and you may even miss the story altogether if you have to be at a certain place at a certain time.
- Double-check your facts. Don't assume everyone is always telling you the truth.
