Week 2 lecture summary: Telling factual stories with text

Today’s lecture introduces how to write factual stories.

Here are a few points to note:

l          Formulaic

l          Indirect speech

l          Active voice

l          News point first (assume our story will be cut from the bottom)

²         Use a thread.

²         Use transition.

²         Use dialogue when possible.

²         Establish a voice.

²         Conclude with a quotation or part of the thread.

Apart from this, it mentioned a useful news writing form which is widely known as the inverted pyramid. At the opening of the article, it should attempt to respond to ‘Five Ws’ questions about any particular event - who, what, when, where and why, and also often how.

Here’s an illustration on what an inverted pyramid story might look like:

It’s about placing of the most important information first within a text.

The widest part at the top represents the most important or compelling, while the tapering lower portion illustrates that other material supporting or elaborating the above information.

Know more about pros & cons of the Inverted Pyramid:

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=52&aid=38693

Lastly, we should all read more and write more!