Headline vs. Lead

When writing an article, the lead is the most important sentence.  This sentence is what makes or breaks the article.  If a person is not hooked by the lead, then they will not continue to read the article and the story simples becomes a filler of empty words on a page. It is very important that as a writer you know the significant difference between a headline and a lead. A head line is also meant to catch the readers eye, but it does not give nearly as much information about the article and it is not a complete sentence. As for a lead, however, the writer must be sure to answer the "who, what, when, where, why and how" of the story.  It is very important for you as a writer to be able to know the difference between the headline and the lead to better inform your reader about the information presented.

Revision is Your Best Friend, So Make Your Best Friend Revise

No matter how great of a writer you are, there is always room for improvement. Revising your writing is an essential step towards becoming a good writer.  After making an outline and organizing exactly how you want to present information to your reader, you must then go back and reread what you wrote to be absolutely sure you said what you wanted to.  One helpful tip get your "bang for your buck" in revising is to read your material out loud. I've learned that what is written on paper has a tendency to be much more confusing once you actually say it out loud. It is also extremely important to have others read your writing before you publish it.  Even if you understand what you are trying to say, it may be very confusing for fresh eyes. You, as a writer, may also find that you have not given enough background information and have your reader lost after the first paragraph. The people reading your writing will not continue through the entirety of the article if it is confusing; why publish something if it isn't going to be read? To avoid the tragedy of an unread article, do yourself a favor and make sure it's worth reading.

The Fabulous Five Sentence Fail-Safe Structure

We have spent the past four weeks in COMM 160 testing and revising numerous writing methods in order to create a formula create a perfect hard hitting news article.  Little did we know that in as little as five sentences we could create a fail-proof news story with each key part of the article could be presented to the reader in just one sentence.  The first sentence is, of course, the lead.  The lead presents just enough information to get across the point of the story in an eye-catching manner, but leaves the necessary room for expansion.  The second sentence, the "Support Sentence," is where the writer can then back up the lead with addition context. Sentence three and four are questionably the most important sentences in the whole article.  In this portion, you are responsible for introducing a quote and the speaker of the quote. This information helps the reader understand why the whole article is relevant.  The writer obviously feels that the article he or she is writing is important but by adding in quotes from an outsider, it shows the reader that the news being presented is something that will affect others. The last sentence of the article gives background information that ties the entire article together and answers any lingering questions the reader may have. This simple formula gives all the necessary information to produce a well-published article for the world to enjoy.

How to Improve News Writing

Clear transitions throughout your article is very important.  As a writer, you must be able to present new ideas to your reader smoothly and without confusion. In order to introduce a new topic, you must include a sentence that binds the ideas of each paragraph together.  This clear transition is just as important when introducing a quote for your article. In order to present a quote into your article without confusion, you must first introduce the person who said the quote in a way that is directly linked to the information being presented.
It is also very important to take note that news writing is extremely different than creative writing.  A key point to remember with news writing is that less it more. Flowery language is in no way necessary to present a good story to the public.  It is always best to just say what you mean is a clear, concise way for the reader to understand.