The News Story

Writing Leads

“Whether you're a newspaper journalist, a

lawyer, a doctor. You have to organize your
thoughts.”
--Frederick Wiseman
Your Story, Your Leads

First, you must identify the main point of your story before you
write it!

A good journalist always asks “So what?” or “What’s this

about?” or “What’s my point?” when considering gathered
information

The lead is what opens any piece of journalism. Other than the
headline, the lead is the only chance to “catch” your reader’s
attention!”
Writing Your Lead
Readers spend only 3 seconds deciding whether to read your
story based on your lead!

There are many types of leads; however, we will work with the
most popular: a direct news lead. This consists of 1 or 2
sentences in the opening paragraph that contains the most
important parts of the story

This consists of 1 or 2 sentences in the opening paragraph that

contains some of the most important parts of the story (who,
what, where, when, why, how)
Leads

The following 2 examples are direct news leads that accurately

tell the reader the most important information about the story!

Local police captured two juvenile thieves Wednesday after the

robbery of Rob’s Mini-Mart.

The Student Council has made plans to donate 100% of all its
proceeds from Friday night’s social event. The group plans to
split the money between two local charities.
Lead Wrap Up

Don’t be afraid to toy with leads until you create the best one!

If you are having trouble, create as many different lead

combinations in a short time. The pressure will help you to
organize the most important elements!

This concludes lesson 1 on writing leads. Please select the home

button to continue the course!
 Story Structures

“A newspaper should be the maximum of

information, and the minimum of comment.”
--Richard Cobden
Organizing Your Story

Now with a strong lead, the time has come to develop the rest of
your story that includes the most interesting facts!

Choosing the correct structure to benefit your readers is critical to

the success of your story!
There are 3 typical structures you will be using as a journalist:
Inverted Pyramid
Storytelling Pattern
Chronological Order Pattern
Also, you might use these patterns together in the same story!
Inverted Pyramid
LEAD
Most interesting news
stories use this style for Most Important Details
many reasons; it benefits:
1. Hurried readers Less important
details
2. Beginning journalists
3. Headline writers Least important
details
4. Page layout editors

This style is beneficial to many different people because less time will
be spent on the parts of the story that aren’t as important!
Storytelling Pattern

Lead This narrative form captures a

reader’s interest without being as
obvious as the inverted pyramid.

Fact
After a beginning, middle, and
end, the writer includes a clincher
Clincher or a kicker which gives the reader
something to remember without
repeating previous information; a
circle kicker returns back to the
Fact opening paragraph!
Chronological Pattern

Lead
Though similar to the
narrative style, this pattern Foreshadowing
works very well when a writer
is trying to convey critical
points of a story! Chronological Storytelling

Climax at End
Story Structure Wrap Up
Obviously the type of story structure you choose is based a
great deal on the content.

Keep your readers in mind when organizing your

information, drafting your story, and finally revising!

This concludes lesson 2 on story structures. Please select

the home button to continue the course!
Practice Using Leads
Read the following lead and think about which news writing tools are
used!
*STATE COLLEGE--- The State College Area school
board’s $102 million plan to reconfigure State High
could be expected to cost more or less by early next
month.

Why?
Who?
What? How?

Where?
When?