A newspaper article must provide an objective and factual account of an event, place or person. Most people read text fluently, so most important information should be placed at the very beginning, and then supplement the material with descriptive details to inform the plot. Research your topic and follow proper text organization to create smart, engaging articles.
Steps
Part 1
Research and interviews-
Contact sources. Try to contact everyone as early as possible so that sources can find time for interviews. For an article, it is advisable to have 2-3 primary sources. It is advisable to communicate with people who have opposing views on the situation in order to comprehensively cover the issue.
- Sources should be experts in the topic you are reviewing (for example, experienced professionals, professors, or academics). You can use sources with extensive experience or a long-term relationship with the field.
- Eyewitnesses to the event will also be helpful, especially if they have experience in the matter you are considering.
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Conduct an interview. Try to conduct face-to-face conversations with sources in a comfortable and quiet environment, such as a café, office, or home. If it is not possible to meet in person, you can talk by phone or video conference. Prepare your questions in advance and get permission to record the conversation so you can use quotes later.
- Sometimes it is necessary to conduct more than one interview with a primary source. You can also send additional questions to the person if necessary.
- Transcribe the audio recording of the conversation in printed form to include in the article exact quotes. Having a transcript will simplify the task of checking facts and backing up information.
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Research publicly available information on the topic at your local library or online. Always use only reliable information that is based on facts. Study various monographs and articles in the library. Find verified information online from trusted services (scientific databases or official government sites).
- Correctly cite the information in the article and include the name of the person or organization that provided you with the information. Use reliable sources to ensure your article carries weight.
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Please check statistics and other figures before using them in an article. If your article relies on statistics, data, or quantitative information, always verify information with reliable sources. Indicate such sources in the article so that readers are convinced of the reliability of the information.
- If you receive an assignment from an editor, you may need to provide them with a list of all sources for the article. This will demonstrate that you have checked all the facts.
Part 2
Article structure-
Come up with a catchy, informative title. The title should attract the reader's attention and hint at the content of the article. A competent title contains answers to the questions “what” and “where”. It should be short and understandable, containing 4–5 words.
- For example, come up with a headline like: “A teenager has disappeared in Irkutsk,” or: “The Duma has not adopted a law on benefits.”
- In some cases, it is more convenient to write a title after completing the article in order to fit the main points of the text into it.
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Start your article with an “introductory” sentence. The first sentence, also often referred to as the loanword "lead", contains the main plot details. The first sentence should provide concise answers to the questions “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” “why,” and “how,” and should entice the reader to continue reading the material.
- For example, you can write the following lead: “In Samara, three schools were closed for quarantine due to an outbreak of influenza,” or: “Police report that a missing teenage girl was found at an abandoned construction site in a residential area of the city.”
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Place information in chronological order, starting with the most relevant and important details. The reader should only have to look at the first part of the article to find out necessary information on this topic. Include the most recent information in the first two paragraphs of the article. This approach is called the inverted pyramid principle.
- For example, you could write: “10–12 students have been diagnosed with the flu, but doctors fear that the number of cases could increase if schools are not closed.”
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Complete the article with important details. This is where you need to answer the “why” and “how” questions in more detail to give the reader all the details. Write a detailed background story or briefly review past events that are directly relevant to the situation. Paragraphs should not be more than 2-3 sentences long to avoid confusion for readers.
- For example, write: “The girl's mother reported her child missing on Friday evening when she did not return home after meeting a friend. This is the second girl who has disappeared in Irkutsk over the past two weeks.”
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Use at least 2-3 supporting quotes from sources. The first part of the article should contain one compelling quote, and the second part should contain one or two additional quotes. Quotations should be used to support any information that cannot be considered generally known. Use quotes that are short, informative, and clear. Always cite the source to which the quote belongs.
- For example, write: “Police representative Sergei Fedorov said that “The girl is in shock, but her health is not in danger,” or: “The school administration reports: “Quarantine will prevent the spread of the flu and keep our students safe.”
- Do not use long quotes or more than four quotes in an article so as not to confuse readers.
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End your article with an informative quote or link to more information. At the end of the article, you can provide an effective quote that will help the reader better understand the situation. You can also leave a link to the website of the organization or event that is described in the article.
- For example, write: “The girl’s mother felt relieved and showed concern to other residents of Irkutsk: “I hope that no more children will get lost in our city.”
- You can also write: “Health care representatives urge parents to monitor developments on the citywide portal www.schooling-samara.ru and school websites.”
Part 3
Tone and style-
Use specific and clear words that will prevent confusion. Avoid vague phrases and general statements, which do not benefit the reader. Use simple and understandable language that is accessible to a wide range of readers. Sentences should take no more than two or three lines. In other cases, divide the thought into several sentences.
- For example, instead of the phrase: “The girl’s mother suggested that the disappearance was related to school,” it would be better to write: “The mother of the missing girl suggested that the reason for the absence could be bullying at school.”
An experienced journalist writes an article for a newspaper in less than half an hour, a beginner spends the whole day on it. To write an article for a newspaper, you need to have a special talent, you need to learn how to work with facts and follow the five steps that help you write a professional newspaper article.
Search for an idea
Writing an article for a newspaper begins with searching for an idea. An experienced journalist is not purposefully looking for ideas; he, as it may seem from the outside, begins his working day with the usual ritual - reading the news news agencies, parses letters, press releases and requests received by e-mail, studies the publications of fellow competitors, and watches world and city news out of the corner of his eye (often simultaneously on several channels). Despite his outward passivity, his brain is actively working and catches any deviations from the usual course of things.
If something always happened according to one scenario, and today the scenario has changed, it means something happened that influenced the development of events in exactly this way. What happened is not obvious or noticeable at first glance, but it changed the usual course of things, and this is a great idea for an article.
Gathering facts
When an idea for an article is found, the journalist checks it, looking for confirmation in various sources. We need to make sure that this is not a “leaking” or “stuffing” of false information by persons interested in misinforming the public and journalists. Typically, to test an idea, you need to get three confirmations from unrelated sources that you can trust.
Having received confirmation of the idea you have found, you need to take a deep breath and stop for a second.
It's good if you have an editor, because now is the time to discuss your idea with him.
As a rule, the editor has more experience than you, perhaps he himself once wrote or edited an article on this topic. Remember, an editor is not a critic, he is your assistant who, at the stage of working with an idea, helps you find best way For further work. The editor will help you look at the article from a different angle, provide a link to other materials,, if necessary, request information from the editor of another department, mentor a more experienced journalist (if the topic is very complex and important for the publication), or can take control of it.
Cherish the moments collaboration with the editor, as they not only allow you to learn how to write great articles, but also teach you how to interact with other editors and journalists within the editorial office. There is no strict hierarchy in editorial offices, but novice journalists are often scared and embarrassed to seek help from a more experienced colleague or editor whose name they see on the front page of their newspaper. Set aside your fears and doubts and ask for help from whomever you think is appropriate, but first discuss your idea with your editor.
If you don’t have an editor and you work alone, then you need to become your own editor. Put away your sketches and do something else. After an hour or two, return to your idea and quickly take a critical look at it.
Analysis of facts and drawing up a plan
Before you start drawing up an article outline, ask yourself the question: “What will be the quintessence of the article, what will it really be about?” Write down your answer in one sentence - it will be useful to you as a guide when writing your draft and editing it, so as not to lose your way.
Now that you have an outline, sort the facts into important and unimportant.
Arrange important facts in a logical sequence, which will ultimately become the outline of the article. Remember that the outline of the article may change slightly during the drafting and preparation of the article.
If, when working on articles, you have to radically change the plan of the article, then it is worth going back a step to collecting facts and once again discussing with the editor the direction of work on the articles. Remember that a strong structure is the key to a successful article.
When drawing up an outline for an article, make sure that all related facts are grouped in one paragraph of the outline, and not scattered throughout the article - this will complicate their understanding and analysis.
Work with details in the same way - they should help the reader see the big picture, and not distract him from the story.
Writing a draft
Copy your plan into a draft and begin to “write out” each point of the plan.
That's why I always make up the maximum amount myself detailed plan articles - such a plan gives me the opportunity to write an article quickly, I do not experience difficulties with the logic of the narrative, they are always present in my head the right words and I don't have a disease clean slate", since I start writing not from a blank document, but from a draft, where the outline of the article has been copied.
If while writing an article you do not have enough facts, then get them from sources you trust, but do not forget to check the information used.
If a large logical gap arises in the writing process - the narrative hangs in the air and you yourself do not understand where to go next - consult with the editor. It may be worth going back a few steps, reconsidering the facts collected and making adjustments to the outline of the article. You shouldn't have any unanswered questions.
Don't mislead the reader, don't force him to do your job - otherwise, next time he will choose another publication and another journalist to get the information he needs.
Preparation of the article
When you finish writing your draft, put it aside for at least a quarter of an hour, if time permits. Go and have a cup of coffee, have a snack, help a colleague with writing his article. This will help you “tear off” the draft you just wrote so that you can turn it into a great article a little later.
Edit your draft as much as time allows. Save each version so you can quickly return to it.
If time is very short, make sure your article is accurate, concise and clear.
- One thought - one sentence.
- Write in short sentences.
- Use verbs in the same tense.
- Avoid unnecessary details.
- Use terms only when necessary.
- Quote powerful sayings.
- Give background to the event.
- Give analogies to complex events
- Answer all reader questions.
- Support all facts used.
Before submitting, read the article out loud to check the connections between paragraphs, identify long and dissonant words and overly long sentences. Enter last changes and submit your article for publication.
How to write articles for publication correctly so that they are read with pleasure, actively commented on, and search engines put them in the TOP of results? Try these seven tips from the pros.
You probably know the common phrase - “Content is the king of the Internet.” There is any kind of content - text, photos, video, and audio. But the basis of the content is the text.
It is the text that brings visitors from search engines.The text shows readers your expertise. Text turns your website visitors into yours. potential clients.
In addition, only the text is understood by search bots.
It is enough to enter a word or phrase there, and Wordstat will show what search queries were asked by Yandex users that included this word. And also how many such requests there were over the past month.
Insert a phrase that matches the topic of your post, and Wordstat will show you exactly what questions people ask Yandex about this topic. In this case, the question turned out to be exactly as I formulated it in the example.
On the right you see the number of requests per month, based on which you can select the main key phrase in the left column for which you will write an article.
Here it is great phrase, “how to choose a SLR camera”, in fact, is an almost ready-made title for your article and you know for sure that people ask this question to the Yandex search engine. If this phrase is on your website, then they will probably be able to find your post, your article using this phrase.
How to estimate the frequency of a phrase
Wordstat shows the overall frequency, that is, impressions for each phrase include impressions of all phrases located below.
To find out the exact frequency, you need to enclose the phrase in quotation marks.
It's tempting to choose the highest-frequency phrase to get a lot of traffic to your site. However, not all so simple.
How to evaluate the competition of a phrase
It is wiser to choose a less frequent phrase for which there will be less competition.
The Mutagen.ru service will help you assess the competition of requests.
It can be used to compare competition by different phrases and choose a phrase that has acceptable competition.
Beginning authors should focus on competition of less than 5, and a frequency of more than 50 requests per month. If the site already has traffic from 1000 unique words per day, you can take phrases with up to 10 competition and more than 100 views.
You shouldn’t take a high-frequency phrase in the hope of getting a thousand visitors from one article at once. It makes more sense to focus on less frequent, but less competitive phrases. Instead of one article, write several dozen and in a few months achieve the same traffic.
The next step is writing the title. This is very important step, because the title determines whether people will find your article using search engines, whether they will notice a link to your article in search results, and whether they will want to click on that link to go to your article.
If your title is not interesting or attractive, then most likely, even if people find your article using a search engine, they will click on it.
Here are two basic rules for a good headline:
- Firstly, the title must include the very search phrase for which you are optimizing this text.
- Secondly, the title should either have some kind of intrigue so that people would be interested in knowing what you are writing about, or just some kind of direct call to action, like “go and find out.”
Let's continue with our short example. The topic of the article is “choosing a DSLR camera” and for the title you can use the phrase “how to choose SLR camera».
This phrase is definitely typed by a lot of people. You just need to slightly specify the topic and title the article “how to choose a DSLR camera for shooting while hiking.” Not for shooting weddings, not for shooting portraits, not for reportage shooting, but for shooting hikes.
This means that from the many people who are just looking for some cameras, you select people who are looking for a camera for specific purposes. To increase interest in your article, you need to add some kind of mystery or a touch of expertise.
It could be called “how to choose a DSLR camera for shooting while hiking—advice from an experienced hiker.” Such a title immediately makes it clear to people that this is not just some kind of theoretical reasoning, this is advice from a person who knows what he is talking about.
I will also note that it is not customary to use any punctuation marks in the title, except for a comma, if the title includes an enumeration, dashes and colons. There may be an exclamation at the end or question mark, and do not put a period at the end of the title.
A very important step is the description of the article, also called description. This is such a brief description of the article, literally two or three lines, from which people will find out what this article is about and whether it is worth reading at all.
Please note that when a search engine displays a link to an article in the search results, it displays a description below. This description is most often taken from the description meta tag.
When your potential reader finds your article in the search results, he may read the title, and since the titles can be very similar, it is the description that determines whether he will want to go to your site to read this article.
If the description is not interesting from the point of view of the search engine, or if it does not exist at all, then the search engine may take some arbitrary fragment from your article, and you may simply lose the reader.
So I’ll reiterate why it’s so important to keep your description short but interesting. Give him a few minutes of time. In fact, this is nothing more than an expanded title, so it can be written according to the same principle and you should definitely include your main search phrase in the description, because this phrase will also stand out in the search results and it will attract attention.
As you can see here, this phrase " reflex camera" or " Camera“It is also emphasized in the description that it attracts attention and thus, as it were, encourages search engine users to go to your website, to your article, to read it.
When the description is ready, it’s time to move on to writing the introduction. The introduction, one might say, is the same short description, only more expanded. It tells you what exactly your article will be about. It, as they say, indicates a problem.
Before giving advice to the reader, you need to show him that he needs this advice. You need to show that he has a problem and that this problem needs to be solved.The first paragraph says that there is such a problem and this problem causes such troubles. In the next paragraph you need to “tread on a sore spot”, aggravate the problem, show the person that if a problem exists, it must be solved. Show him what troubles will happen if he doesn’t solve this problem.
If your article is of a slightly different plan, it seems to show a person how he can fulfill his dream, then here, in the introduction, you show this dream, outline it so that he can visually imagine it. And then you kind of let him feel what he will receive when his dream comes true.
This is actually a fairly simple step, because it is nothing more than a description of the solution to the problem that you just outlined in the introduction. Now you simply describe in detail, step by step, how this problem needs to be solved. Or, if this article is of a different plan, show the person what he must do to fulfill his dream.
When writing the main part, it is worth observing certain technical requirements:
- The text should be divided into parts of about 3-5 paragraphs in size, highlighting them with subheadings so that it does not look like such a continuous piece of text. Because people don’t read continuous chunks of text; they quickly skip to the next subheading.
- It is advisable that the main search phrase also be present in the subheadings. Use this key phrase at the very beginning of the body of the article and the introduction.
- The length of the article should be from 5 to 10 thousand characters. In an article of this length it is difficult to allow “overspam”; it will not look as if it was written specifically to deceive search engines. Big time reading will play into the hands of assessing behavioral factors.
- It is highly advisable to use illustrations and some pictures on the topic of this article in the article. The pictures are eye-catching and it's just so interesting to read. Pictures also increase traffic to your site and bring new visitors to you, because now all search engines have image search. When people find your pictures, they can go to your website and find out what you write there. To do this, the picture must contain its description and some key phrases. Most often, this is the very main keyword phrase for which you are optimizing your article, or simply the title of this article.
Well, that’s almost all, all that remains is to write a conclusion. In conclusion, you need to repeat the most important points from your article - so to speak, a summary, a concentrate of the information that you gave. So that a person, after reading the article, can refresh his memory of the most important thing that this article gives him.
In addition, we must also remember that many visitors scroll through an article, especially a large one, to the very end, read 1-2 paragraphs at the end of the article, and only after that proceed to read the entire article.
Therefore, your conclusion should also serve as an introduction. Only here everything should be in the past tense, as if the person had already received a solution to the problem that you talked about in the introduction.
And you also need to give some kind of incentive to a person so that he starts applying this information, so that he doesn’t just read and forget, so that he gets real practical benefit from it.
If you do these simple 7 successive steps, then you will receive interested, targeted visitors, primarily through search engines. Visitors will receive real benefits from each of your articles.
This means that traffic to your site will grow, and the number of your potential clients will also grow. Use these recommendations every time you visit, regardless of its size.
Video How to write articles for a website correctly
14 comments
If you find it difficult to come up with a start, use proven techniques - they will save time.
Yes, luring people into your network is not easy. Sometimes you don't get caught educated people. It's incredible, but true!
Exciting start? Yes! Intriguing questions with their full disclosure in the text? Yes! But not “water”... No!
So how do you start writing an article without losing the reader’s attention or making you want to yawn a couple of times?
It all starts with the lead...
The word lead has foreign roots and is translated from English. language means “to lead.” The usefulness of an article is determined by the reader in 5 seconds, quickly. Then the first paragraph takes center stage. It is important, people skim through it.
When the lead is bad, the text is quickly closed. Mistakes made in the lead make the situation worse, that’s all! Forget about readers and sales.
What does a lead do? Captures attention, attracts the eye!
Serious information is easy to present in a particularly interesting way, with examples and the author’s approach. The lead plays a role in advertising brochures; his task is to set the mood, sell the product to the client, and intrigue him so that an understanding of the actions comes after paying for the order. This is selling on emotions, you don’t even need to come up with additional ideas
Lead is main meaning articles, After reading it, it’s easy to grasp the essence of what the article is about. It is different, we will look at its varieties later, but for now let’s talk about cliches and cliches.
How not to start articles?
Valuable information is spoiled by incorrect presentation of material. Do you want to repeat the mistakes of authors who do not want to learn and work on texts? The blogger is interesting to readers not only for his writing style, but also for the absence of hackneyed phrases. Which ones?
1. Stamps
Example: B modern world Mobile technologies are developing at a rapid pace.
Example 2: Without movement there will be no life.
No imagination to come up with an enticing beginning? Leave it, write further, and the lead will wait. Good thoughts come at the wrong time and not when we need them. So the problem is how to start the article.
2. Captain Obvious
The beginning of the obvious phrases that everyone knows - more typical mistake. Why add meaningless sentences for volume? This is stupid, detached phrases are not suitable.
Example: The earth is round, there are 24 hours in a day, day follows night.
Example 2: Women are not like men; every person thinks about their health.
The authors are trying to get the reader excited, because they write things that are difficult to argue with. Or maybe they just need more sentences to make the text seem stretched out.
Obvious phrases are not serious. If you don’t know how to start an article, think carefully and take a break from the text for a few hours.
3. Sophistication
Difficult perception of the first sentence with participial phrases and mass smart words– this is a direct path to closing the page immediately. They tire, cause yawning, and the desire to study what is written disappears. This is a failure.
Example: A trade secret is information that is secret in the sense that it, in some form and its totality of parts, is unknown and is not readily available to people who deal with the information.
Imagine using this style in your sales article? Yes, everyone will run away at once. If you don’t know how to write an article, a complicated one will make the situation worse.
Methods for starting an article:
Sugarman's Slippery Slide
This is the golden method. It was invented by the rich and famous American copywriter Joe Sugarman. The method is unique and suitable for publications in the media, information sites and selling articles.
How does it work?
The first sentence introduces intrigue. It is torn, incomplete and makes you want to find out what was left unsaid. The second sentence reveals the essence of the first, but no more than 50%, and it is better to reveal the whole essence a little later in the text.
The intrigue should remain until the end, until the reader reads all the material. At first, implementing this method may seem difficult; you need to try and learn. The third sentence brings it closer to the main point, but the intrigue remains.
Important! Don't stretch out the beginning.
Statistics or facts
Catch your attention with something special. Give truthful, intriguing information. Curiosity will take over and you will want to read the article. Add shocking facts to the LID, this will undoubtedly work and there will be no problems with how to write an article at all.
Examples:
- Scientists have proven that crocodiles are smarter than dogs.
- Islands with mountains of plastic bottles have been found in the world's oceans.
- Only 2% of people with red hair are born in the world.
Provocation
This technique is used by copywriters, it is even a favorite. Its essence is to evoke emotions, set the mood with provocative proposals. Sometimes they use profanity, reader reaction: “It looks like the author has become insolent?” These thoughts make you read the material. People excitedly dive into provocative material and respond in the form of comments.
There is only one “but” - it is better to provoke correctly. This way the storm of criticism will not hit the author. By the end of the article, all negativity should melt away.
Examples:
- Only stupid people drink cold water in the morning.
- Dynamo fans are a bunch of inadequate people.
- If you can read, you will read the following information.
Provocations must be thoughtful so as not to alienate customers. The provocation will be funny and you need to work off the negative; by the end of the day after the provocation, people should have a positive impression in their heads. The company must monitor this closely. Sometimes it can do a lot of harm if it is negative.
Ask a Question
Don't know how to start an article? Yes, ask the question, it will be easy. Questions are relevant because people always try to get an answer to them, but if there is no answer, then curiosity forces them to read. An intriguing question - a win-win. Don't know how to start? Ask a couple of questions and write them at the beginning of the text.
Examples:
- How to earn money for an apartment in 1 year?
- Where can I get a loan for 1,000,000 rubles without interest?
- How to lose 20 kg in a month?
Questions can be combined with the “Sugerman slide”, other methods also work, the main thing is not to spoil it!
Hypnosis method
For news articles, such a beginning is not typical or even unusual. It's ideal for salespeople commercial offers, landing pages and advertising articles.
The whole peculiarity is in the use of such phrases: “Imagine...”, “Just think...”, “Imagine...” and stuff like that.
Examples:
- Imagine yourself in the place of a person who has two suitcases filled with money in his hands.
- Imagine that you are the president of an auto holding company.
- Just think how many people can be saved if you think about health from childhood.
Quote
It’s easy to start an article with a quote, a smart and deep phrase from a famous person.
But, using this method, do not forget the meaning of the quote the target audience should catch it (don't be too clever). Her the main point easily linked to the text published below.
Don’t get carried away, it doesn’t always work, but the article looks better with it than without it.
Experiment or survey
A great way to start an article is to write a short survey right away. Most people are inquisitive, love all sorts of texts and experiments, and are interested in learning something new about themselves.
By introducing such introductions into your materials, you are guaranteed to get readers, even if only for a short time, even if the text is for sale of an information product.
Examples:
- Answer 5 questions and find out how to start the day so that money flows into your hands.
- If you want to learn about yourself, take the test and understand why it is difficult to learn Chinese on your own.
Experience
In some ways the experience will resemble a story, only it tells it special person on your own behalf and not on behalf of a third party. Sometimes the experience is too emotional, that's a good thing!
A great start for a selling text. Curiosity flares up further, like a flame burns. The author can only add firewood to keep it from going out.
Problem and solution
Find main problem target audience and promise to solve it with the very first sentence. If you guessed the problem, wait for the readers.
Copywriters who make up the Landing Page of weight loss products work with this to get rid of dandruff and problems.
The text needs to be built with intrigue and revealed at the end, leading the reader to the idea that he cannot do without this thing.
Let's summarize the results
Don't know how to start an article? Don’t reinvent the wheel; it’s already been invented for you, tested and successfully implemented, obtaining positive results.
Skim the cream off other people's developments and actively use those methods that will 100% interest the target audience.
Interesting:
Comments (14)
Yes, it is very important to catch the visitor’s attention, but the main thing is not to overdo it. She smiled about the scientists (Elena, just don’t take it personally, this advice is very correct, but they often use it in their own way).
So, about scientists: now this “trick” is used left and right, even in cheap teasers: but scientists have found out, scientists have proven, scientists advise... Poor, poor scientists, they don’t even imagine how much they have discovered)))
What I mean is that every piece of advice should be used thoughtfully, without turning the article into absurdity or outright lies!
By the way, I recently read advice: the success of a copywriter is to present fiction as truth. And I had mixed feelings! Either the author of the advice does this, or does disservice, giving "excellent" recommendations for the death of truth.
And I agree with scientists, sometimes they go too far!
Elena, how you helped me with your article and recommendations, thank you... I’ve already read so much on this topic, but I still come back to this issue again and again... You gave very useful advice... It’s good that you gave specific examples... We’ll try to use it in practice in on your blogs... Best regards, Anna.
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