Writing Articles Made Easy (Technically)

Assuming that you have a newsworthy story, here are some hints to ensure that your article will pass muster:

-- Put your hook in the headline if possible, and in the first paragraph of the article. Time has become valuable to everyone. If they don't determine that reading further is worth their time, then they will move on. What goes in the hook? The real meat or the attention-grabbing element of the information you are presenting.

-- Remove unnecessary fluff. Give facts and information. If you try to make an article longer by filling it in with stuff that really doesn't need to be there, the readers will determine they don't really need to read it either.

-- Be absolutely sure that the information presented is 100% accurate. Any less will get you into trouble. In fact, it will bring in negative publicity for you when the press finds out that you fudged the facts. Don't assume they won't do the legwork to verify your statements. They will. There's a great example of this that's occurring in the press right now - both the English and US intelligence services are accusing their executive branches of picking and choosing which facts about Iraq they present to the public; emphasizing the negatives and minimizing the elements that might convince people to reject the war. These comments will probably receive more press in the near future.

-- Length of the your article is important. Anything over one page long for a press release is asking for trouble.

Stories you submit for publication can be longer, but we've found the most success with tightly-written articles in two length ranges - 400 words and 800-1000 words. If the press wants something longer, they'll ask for it (we usually submit both a 400 and an 800-word version, and tell them that we have longer versions available if desired. The stories usually get run in one of the two provided lengths, with a few calls for a feature-length story.)

-- Grammatical and spelling errors are big time barriers to getting a story or release printed. Always spell check. After the spell check, ALWAYS have someone else read through it to catch the errors spell-checkers don't see:

The car was parked in the driveway. The cat was parked in the driveway.

Spell check won't catch the second one because cat is spelled correctly. Grammar checking won't catch it either since it is used correctly in the sentence. Let the computer deal with obvious blunders. Let the humans deal with the rest.

-- When you submit it to the media, be watchful of their deadlines. They have to keep those. But keep in mind that a reporter that is very busy still needs story ideas. Don't be afraid to call them on the phone with a pitch. Just be careful to refine your pitch to 15 seconds or less.

This list could go on and on. These should help for now. The bottom line is, play it smart when working with the media. they can be your best friend or your worst enemy. You don't want them for your enemy!

Here are some products that we carry deal with writing for the media:

P.R. Special Report #6: How to Write How-to Articles that Position You as an Expert

P.R. Special Report #12: 52 Tips for Kick-Butt Press Releases (and Bonehead Mistakes to Avoid)

Creating Powerful Press Releases

P.R. Special Report #25: How to Pitch Reporters Over the Telephone and Make Every Second Count

P.R. Special Report #26: How to Make Your Story Pitch Stand Out in the Email Jungle

Public Relations Disasters: A Dozen Press Releases From Hell and How to Fix them

Tags: Effective Writing