HOW TO WRITE
– and –
HOW NOT TO WRITE
A NEWS STORY
25 TOP WRITING TIPS
TIP NO. 1
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Never, NEVER, NEVER …
Don’t even think about …
Beginning a sentence with “there” and “it.”
TIP NO. 2
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Use “said” as the verb of attribution.
Forget about “exclaimed,” “cried,” “yelled,”
“screamed,” “whispered” and other verbs.
Just use SAID.
TIP NO. 3
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Set every story in time and place and use verb
tenses that conform to that setting.
This means that most stories will be in past tense –
including attribution.
DO NOT SHIFT/CHANGE TENSES IN A STORY.
TIP NO. 4
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Don’t clutter up attribution with ... anything.
Keep attribution simple.
Don’t say “... said the 29-year-old mother of two
who has red hair and drives a 1996 Toyota pickup
truck with a bumper sticker that says ‘Support Your
Local Police’ and was born in Wink.”
TIP NO. 5
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A group, team or whatever is singular.
A group of students is singular.
The prepositional phrase (of students) does not
affect agreement.
TIP NO. 6
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Each is singular: “Each of us is going.”
Neither is singular: “Neither of us is going.”
TIP NO. 7
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Understand the difference between it, its and it’s.
It is singular.
Its is possessive form of “it.”
It’s is a contraction of “it” and “is.”
TIP NO. 8
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Know and understand the difference between who's
and whose.
Who’s is a contraction of “who” and “is.”
Whose is a possessive.
TIP NO. 9
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Know how to use an apostrophe with years.
You abbreviate 1961 or 1979 as ’61 and ’79
You DO NOT abbreviate them as ‘61 and ‘79.
And apostrophe (’) indicates the omission of a letter
or numbers.
TIP N0. 10
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You DO NOT use an apostrophe to indicate a
decade.
Correct: 1980s, 1990s, 2000s
Wrong: 1980’s, 1990’s, 2000’s
You DO NOT use an apostrophe to indicate ages.
Correct: He is in his 50s
Wrong: He is in his 50’s.
TIP NO. 11
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“ly” words aren’t hyphenated: slightly elevated
driveway.
TIP NO. 12
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Don’t use hopefully in speech or writing.
While you are at it, stay away from other floating
adverbs: interestingly, fortunately ....
TIP NO. 13
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If for some reason you are beginning a sentence
with a participle, be absolutely certain that what’s
in the participial phrase is in sync with the main part
of the sentence.
Here’s an example of a phrase out of sync:
Believing that food plays a major part in health,
animal studies ....
P.S.: Don’t begin sentences with participles.
TIP NO. 14
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Use the word “while” only when two actions are
occurring at the same time.
TIP NO. 15
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Some words aren’t words …
… so, obviously, don’t use them: momento, reoccur,
reoccurrence.
TIP NO. 16
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Don’t put -wise ending on words, as in weather-wise.
TIP NO 17
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Don’t use “following” as a synonym for “after.”
TIP NO. 18
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“New record” is redundant.
TIP NO. 19
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Use miles an hour, not miles per hour
TIP NO. 20
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Know the differences between “affect” and
“effect.”
“Affect” is a verb
“Effect” a noun – except to “effect” a settlement.
TIP NO. 21
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Don’t use “reportedly.”
If you are in a position of reporting, report.
Don’t say well I don't know this for sure, but
someone mentioned it to me, and I’ll just pass it
along to you in the event it might be right.
TIP NO. 22
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Never, NEVER, NEVER …
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Use quotes or questions as your lead.
TIP NO. 23
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Never, NEVER, NEVER …
Include this cliché in your lead: “rain failed to
dampen”
EXAMPLE: Despite the bad weather, the rain failed
to dampen the spirits of the fans or the football
team
TIP NO. 24
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Never, NEVER, NEVER …
… use partial quotes around ONE word
EXAMPLE: He said he was “lucky” to be alive.
That makes the reader question the use of the word
lucky.
Drop the quotes.
TIP NO. 25
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Write simply, clearly.
In other words, Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS).