Do's
- Fresh, unique angles
- One-of-a-kind, storytelling quotes
- Little-known facts & figures
- Use of sights, sounds & other senses
- Story packages
- Consistent style with regards to capitalization, punctuation, spelling, attributions, abbreviations
Do Not's
- Boring nouns: Choose image-evoking nouns like chemists instead of students, environmentalists instead of club members & defensive linemen instead of players.
- Weak verbs: Strive to avoid non-action verbs such as is, are, was, were, be, being, been, seems & appears.
- Obvious material: Facts, figures & quotes that are already common knowledge.
- Long paragraphs: Reader-inviting & journalistic paragraphs are limited to one, two & no more than three concise sentences.
- Word overuse: The school name & initials, the mascot & the phrase this year should be avoided whenever possible.
- Editorializing: rely on excellent reporting of facts & figures to avoid having to use opinionated words such as busy, successful, diligent, etc. Allow sources to state any opinion through their direct quotes.
- Second-person usage: Avoid direct reference to readers in your copy unless the writer knows everyone reading the copy has the same conception.
Check out this link for some more
story writing tips!
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