Writing a better news article, part 1.

One of the great benefits to opening an account here is the ability to write and publish news articles.  In earlier versions of the site, anyone could submit news articles, but not all were published.  When one was submitted, it went into a news queue and was reviewed by the staff and admins for its merits.  If they thought it wasn't worthwhile, it never saw the light of day.  It was very one dimensional, everyone could write them but few could publish them.  Now the news system is extremely user friendly and open for all types of articles to be published.

I wrote my first news article here just over two years ago.  It was a great moment of excitement and joy seeing something I put together get published and read by the community.  Two years later I still enjoy using the news system and encourage others to do the same.

There is a wide variety of article types that can be submitted, from interviews, to announcing contests, all the way to featuring art.  I've written a little bit of a wide variety of articles and learned a lot from what I have published.  With the knowledge and experience I've gained from all I've published, I wish to pass on some of what I've gained by providing some helpful insights and tips.  This is not the final word on news articles, nor is it the only word; this is only what I have picked up over the past two years that I wish to share to those willing to listen.  So, let's get to the heart of the matter.


Tip 1:  Do your homework.

The biggest mistake that can be made is jumping right into the news article without proper planning.  The more time you spend in preparation for your article, the more professional it will look, and it will be accepted my more people.  Doing the homework means doing only a few things, below is a good example of what to watch out for.

A.  Be creative.  Browse through the news articles that are already written.  If there were five news articles written that week that featured red as the theme, do people really want to see a sixth red feature?  Chances are, no.  If you publish an article that has already been done before, your article will come off as a rip-off of the original, or will be viewed as insignificant in comparison.  Give people something new, fresh, and creative. B.  Gather your materials.  You cannot save news articles to publish later, having everything you need, ready to be assembled is a must.  If you feature art, make sure all your image links can be gathered easily.  If you are writing more of a news article, have all your references bookmarked to link to them easier.  Using Firefox helps tremendously; you can open all your links in separate tabs and use them as needed.  If you are using IE, you may want to open two windows, one for submitting the news article, the other for gathering your links.  IE7 also has multiple tabs, if you haven't upgraded, you might want to give it a try. C.  Plan before writing.  What exactly are you going to write about?  If you plan on doing an art feature, how many images are you planning to feature?  If you are doing a news article, do you want it to look like a newspaper article, or be more laid out like a magazine spread?  Are you planning a one time feature, or do you want to make a series from what you have to offer?  All these questions will help mold your article.  With experience, you will also start to develop patterns and customize your articles to give them a personalized look.  In future articles, I will go deeper into this area as I cover specifics on different format types. D.  What's in a name?  Coming up with a name for your article can make or break its success.  I have found that something slightly witty but not on the cliche side helps hook people in.  I once wrote an article called "Out of the Darkness" that was about taking the less grotesque macabre and dark art and showing the lighter side to those galleries.  I came up with "Unburied Treasures" because it features art with ten or less favorites on each image.  Newer artists, or those not well known can have their art buried under the thousands of works that get submitted daily.  I literally dig through the galleries to find these images.  Creative or interesting names could stir people's curiosity enough to click on your article to see what it's about. E.  Stronger summaries yield better traffic.  I actually write my summaries last, but the Summary is the bullet that goes beneath the name of your article, it's seen first so I'll cover it here.  The Summary is a concise statement about your article that draws attention and wets people's appetites to want to read more.  This is not where you write a book describing your article.  A well written one teases people to explore further, and if you've written a solid article, they won't be let down.  It should be short enough to be read quickly, but contain enough to give only a glimpse of what you are featuring.

Hopefully this will help you think about news articles more.  Next week I will cover some editing tips and give some advice to make your feature look more polished.  Stay tuned for part two, when the body of the article is broken down and improved.  Along with the tips, I will show some different visual examples for making a better layout.