Traditional Story Structure
The following instructions are formatted to mimic a traditional story structure.
Headlines follow AP style, use present tense
The lead paragraph should capture the reader’s interest, give the essence of the
story (for direct leads), and be only 1 or 2 sentences maximum.
Have a paragraph that backs up the lead with some additionally important
information. This could be further factual information or maybe some statistics that
provide supporting information. Remember to keep paragraphs throughout the
story relatively short since this isn’t English-style essay writing.
“Generally around the third paragraph or so, you could have your first quote,”
Quoted Person#1 said. “This quote is commonly the most interesting, relevant, or
powerful quote in the story, but not always.”
Be sure to follow established AP style and CPJ style guidelines. Also, be sure that the
story flows well. Use effective transitions and have at least one idea in common
between adjacent paragraphs when possible.
However, be sure to avoid redundancy. Once you provide a piece of information,
there’s no need to give that same piece of information again in the story.
Here’s some more text, perhaps adding more useful new information or setting up
another quote right below.
“This might be a good spot for another quote,” Quoted Person#2 said.
Put more information here. Remember to vary your sentence structures so that the
story is interesting and flows well. Additionally, be sure that, throughout the story,
your verbs are in active voice. Also, keep verbs in the past tense.
Follow the provided story guide to stay on track. Use it as a checklist for creating
superior content.
“Your next source could go here,” Quoted Person#3 said.
As you get closer to the end of the story, you should think of a nice way to close the
story out, perhaps something that takes the reader back to the lead or, on some
cases, compels or enables action.
“Quote kickers, quotes that are funny, poignant, or otherwise interesting, are
sometimes a very effective way to close things out,” Quoted Person#3 added.