Find a process that works for you

Think of an idea that will be relevant to your assigned page

Think about an idea that is relevant and interesting to the demographics of your paper

Work with your editor to find the right angle

Gather information from a variety of sources: Human and Physical

Primary sourcesSecondary sourcesPhysical Sources

Read through your notesHighlight most important details Ask yourself questions to guide

you to an angleWhat’s this story about?What’s my main point going to be?What’s news worthy about this

story?Create a sentence that

summarizes your story

Strike out details that do not directly relate to your story sentence:

Who?What?Where?When?Why?How?

Put your answers to the questions in inverted pyramid order: most-least important.

Read through your primary source interviews. Highlight useable quotes. Label as who, what, where, when, why, how.

Immediately after organizing, create a first draft, while your main idea and details are fresh in your mind. Don’t wait!

Don’t worry about the length unless you have been given a strict length limit.

Write your Lead (nut graf).Who and/or what is this story about?The lead has to hook your reader.Make the read WANT to read the rest of

the story.Begin with the most compelling idea or

one that has prominence or proximity.Which detail will attract the MOST readers!

Do not try to use all the 5W’s and H.

Look carefully at all the different leads. Read the text explanations for each

example Concentrate on the first few words.

Note how the WHEN is not a detail of significance in this lead.

The WHO is more significant , but not as significant as the WHAT. Why????

Always ask yourself: Which lead would students and parents most likely read?

Your target audience is WHS students 9-12.

Key details: Who? Three senior boys’ basketball

players What? Were arrested for under-aged

drinking at a bonfire When? Midnight after Friday-night game Where? Board member’s house Why? Celebrating winning the conference

title How? Losing team’s cheerleader at

bonfire texted her boyfriend who texted a friend who bought a Trackphone and called 911.

Create a one-two sentence lead that begins with the most compelling detail.

Remember: Do not need to include all the details

Keep sentence(s) to 16-17 words. Be ready to defend your lead-in

detail.

Keep your paragraphs to 1-3 sentences.

Keep your sentences to 16-17, unless it is a very important quote.

You can always break the quote down into two sentences, even if your speaker said it in one.

P. 96. Why did this writer begin with the word ambulance?

Proofread quickly for careless errors. Check that all quotes are accurate and

correctly attributed. Read the whole piece aloud, listening

to the way the story flows and the sentences sound when read.

Reread to correct awkward or wordy sentences.

Look at your notes to see if there is anything else you may want to include

P. 106 Chapter 6

Keep your paragraphs short: Three-sentence maximum!

Keep your sentences structures to simple, compound, and complex. Avoid long, literary compound-complex sentences.