10 Ways to Write Well

Rob Curley spoke to students at the recent Associated Collegiate Press conference in Phoenix. He told students that the best way to prepare for the future of journalism is to write well. Here are a few ideas to help any journalist follow his advice.

The “Hyper-local hero” told his audience that they needed to be able to write copy in real-time. He predicted that reporters increasingly will be required to work without a net. If you can’t write well on your own and under stress than you will be in trouble.

Curley also noted that there is nothing more important than a willingness and ability to learn. Listen to his entire response on the Innovation in College Media blog.

We have a few tips on how to follow Curly’s advice. This list of was written by UPIU mentor Beth Potter for journalists interested in submitting to UPIU.com. However, these are great tips for any journalist.

Top Ten Elements of a Good Story

1. Your lead must be catchy.

If your friend’s eyes glaze over when she hears it, it’s not catchy enough. (TIP: Say the lead out loud to yourself. If it’s hard to say in one breath, it’s probably too long. In general, leads can be up to 35 words but remember,”Brevity is the source of wit.”)

2. Your story must be unique.

New studies, new decisions, new trends, are just a few of the things that can make for good hard news stories. Features and profiles should be about unusual and/or new information or people. Readers will not be interested if you write about things they know already.

3. All stories must have at least two sources.

A good story should have three or more sources. Quotes from your sources should say something more interesting than just factual information. (For example: “Michigan has cold winters,” is not a good quote because the information is something everyone already knows.)

4. “Write tight, write bright.”

Brief stories are almost always more engaging than long stories. Many hard news stories are 350 words or less. Features and profiles can be 400-800 words. On the Internet, especially, shorter is better.

5. Attribute as much information as you can.

This makes your story more credible to readers and keeps their attention.

6. All sources must include both first and last names.

Ask your source to spell his or her name and title when you do the interview. If you do not include a source’s name in your story, you MUST explain why. Some examples could be: an underage child, a rape victim, etc. Your story is not credible and cannot be published if this basic rule is not followed.

7. Answer all questions!

If a quote might raise a question in a reader’s mind, you can either a.) not use it, or b.) explain it. Cut anything that seems ambiguous.

8. DO NOT, under any circumstance, give your own opinion in a story.

Factual background information is OK. Opinion words are not.

9. UPI uses American spellings, including organized instead of organized, honor instead of honour, etc.

10. Finally — please always consult the UPI stylebook (on the Web page), have a dictionary handy, and give your story one final read before filing it.

This lets your editor know that you care about the quality of your work.

How to know if you have good story candidate for UPI.com

“Trend” stories are always good — they should illustrate a bigger picture
Current examples:

• University studies that illustrate a bigger point — from weight and obesity to ethnic statistics
• Real estate and economic trends, as long as they
• Social trends — anything to do with new gadgets on the market, campus trends if they illustrate a bigger picture, etc. (a paintball group on a Colorado campus led police to ban all “weapons,” including squirt guns, paintball guns, etc.)

Wish you could have a version of this to post in your college newsroom or above your desk? Well you can! Have a PDF of the Top Ten Elements of a Good Story.