Writing Better News

October 27, 2007 · Filed Under Blogging 

I always try to install practical writing tips when I meet and talk with my community managers. These guys are in charge of general news and announcements in their game’s primary website and forums. Much of these are gleaned from the years of experience I had as a professional writer and also from being a community manager.

The following habits can also be synced into web-writing. The only additional knowledge and skill that you need is SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This is practically making certain that the keywords that you “protect” are always in your headline, blurb or first few paragraphs.

The same can be said for blog-writing.

Just follow the following notes, tips and guidelines and you’ll be on your way to writing better articles and being on top of Google and other search engines.

More after the jump

TIPS FOR HEADLINES

•    Be direct to the point
•    It must instantly captivate someone’s attention
•    Keep it short and simple
•    Make sure your keywords are there
•    For blurbs, it must summarize the news and at the same time “intrigue” the reader

THE INVERTED NEWS PYRAMID

Now that you have some idea on how to construct your headline and blurb, it’s time to  follow a few simple guidelines when writing your article.

Imagine an inverted pyramid. Your most newsworthy information should be on top of this with other, lesser details following it.

1.    Lead – Your first couple of paragraphs must instantly inform and “capsulize” your news. It must have the 5 Ws - that would be Who, What, When, Where, Why
2.    Details – following this, interesting facts and background details should follow your lead paragraph(s).
3.    Background – Lastly, the least important details and background information follows. You can then close your article with either something concrete or possible developments in the future.

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Comments

2 Responses to “Writing Better News”

  1. Where Do Your Blog Visitors Come From? | gmtristan.com on March 21st, 2008 4:02 pm

    […] my latest count, I have visitors from 126 countries. Whoa! That’s a lot. Thanks to some good ol-fashioned SEO and link baiting, I for one am happy with the […]

  2. Blog Tip: Captivating Headlines | gmtristan.com on April 15th, 2008 9:23 am

    […] my previous article, How to Write Better News, I tackled the fundamentals of creating crisp and direct-to-the-point content that both human and […]

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