One thing I've noticed with some recent news articles I have read is that they leave me feeling very empty. When I was in school I learned a completely different style of writing. Unfortunately, over the years I have not had the opportunity to keep up with all the latest writing standards and techniques. I guess I am really old school when it comes to writing.
After reading an article I would be more pleased to have an aha moment. First and foremost think of the who, what, when, where, why, and how the article is about. From that point on you should be able to draw up a great, captivating introduction with at least three main areas to address. Next, expand on the last sentence of your introduction in the paragraphs to follow. And finally end up with a conclusion which reinforces the last sentence of your introductory paragraph and offers solutions, techniques, brief outlooks, something for the future.
In layman's terms if you are writing for a major publication have someone else proofread your article and see if it answers more questions than it leaves unanswered. Just this week alone I have read two articles in the newspaper which have left me very empty. One was in regards to the marketing expenditures of a local city but it failed to mention anything in regards to the return on investment, a comparison between the past and present effectiveness of the marketing efforts.
Now today I read an article on 8 of 10 restaurants leaving the local mall because the lease is not being renewed with no reason stated as to why. No interview with or mention of an attempt to interview with the company whose lease will not be renewed.
Whatever happened to interviewing outside subject matter experts? Interviewing other locales in the same regional network undergoing issues is a too little watered down for my taste. Why does the newspaper constantly stick with the sources as references especially when asking compliance questions? Do you really think someone would voluntarily state they are knowingly operating in a non-compliant way? Do they think their local area network would say anything which would go against the very nature of the consensus which is reached here locally on most issues?
Give me an introduction which states what the article is about. For the illiterate such as myself please include at least three points. Anything less would probably lead to something I wouldn't want to read anyway. The introduction should capture my attention so I want to continue reading. Give me the meat and potatoes of the story I'm not a vegetarian I want to fill fat and heavy. Even though I'm already fat and heavy put some desert in front of my face so I can have something to look forward to indulging later.
I was going to write this blog post the other day when I read the article: "Portsmouth bypassed bids to hire outside marketer". I was wondering why did they just not ask for a copy of the procurement policy for the city for starts?
Consider your target market when writing an article. I personally would be more interested in what the return and more specifically the return on investment during was during these tumultuous economic times more than anything else. Apparently no matter how the services were procured they followed some type of protocol in which they have not been thrown under the rug for. It mainly seemed to stem from the anger of the company who is no longer enjoying the fruits of the services being contracted with their firm.
After reading the article on today from clicking on a FACEBOOK post to it: "MacArthur Center to lose 8 food court eateries" I was left wondering why? No mention of how much HMSHost business receipts, profits, losses, etc. have increased or declined since their tenure in the mall. The sad part is the company seems to have a strong online presence. Why not use their FACEBOOK wall and ask why the lease is not being renvewed? I see most of their responses to other individual posters with inquiries is to "check out their website at http://www.hmshost.com/". I may be wrong, but it seems to me someone from a newspaper in a metropolitan area could get an answer.
Maybe it is just the woman in me but I don't like when relationships end without closure.
After reading an article I would be more pleased to have an aha moment. First and foremost think of the who, what, when, where, why, and how the article is about. From that point on you should be able to draw up a great, captivating introduction with at least three main areas to address. Next, expand on the last sentence of your introduction in the paragraphs to follow. And finally end up with a conclusion which reinforces the last sentence of your introductory paragraph and offers solutions, techniques, brief outlooks, something for the future.
In layman's terms if you are writing for a major publication have someone else proofread your article and see if it answers more questions than it leaves unanswered. Just this week alone I have read two articles in the newspaper which have left me very empty. One was in regards to the marketing expenditures of a local city but it failed to mention anything in regards to the return on investment, a comparison between the past and present effectiveness of the marketing efforts.
Now today I read an article on 8 of 10 restaurants leaving the local mall because the lease is not being renewed with no reason stated as to why. No interview with or mention of an attempt to interview with the company whose lease will not be renewed.
Whatever happened to interviewing outside subject matter experts? Interviewing other locales in the same regional network undergoing issues is a too little watered down for my taste. Why does the newspaper constantly stick with the sources as references especially when asking compliance questions? Do you really think someone would voluntarily state they are knowingly operating in a non-compliant way? Do they think their local area network would say anything which would go against the very nature of the consensus which is reached here locally on most issues?
Give me an introduction which states what the article is about. For the illiterate such as myself please include at least three points. Anything less would probably lead to something I wouldn't want to read anyway. The introduction should capture my attention so I want to continue reading. Give me the meat and potatoes of the story I'm not a vegetarian I want to fill fat and heavy. Even though I'm already fat and heavy put some desert in front of my face so I can have something to look forward to indulging later.
I was going to write this blog post the other day when I read the article: "Portsmouth bypassed bids to hire outside marketer". I was wondering why did they just not ask for a copy of the procurement policy for the city for starts?
Consider your target market when writing an article. I personally would be more interested in what the return and more specifically the return on investment during was during these tumultuous economic times more than anything else. Apparently no matter how the services were procured they followed some type of protocol in which they have not been thrown under the rug for. It mainly seemed to stem from the anger of the company who is no longer enjoying the fruits of the services being contracted with their firm.
After reading the article on today from clicking on a FACEBOOK post to it: "MacArthur Center to lose 8 food court eateries" I was left wondering why? No mention of how much HMSHost business receipts, profits, losses, etc. have increased or declined since their tenure in the mall. The sad part is the company seems to have a strong online presence. Why not use their FACEBOOK wall and ask why the lease is not being renvewed? I see most of their responses to other individual posters with inquiries is to "check out their website at http://www.hmshost.com/". I may be wrong, but it seems to me someone from a newspaper in a metropolitan area could get an answer.
Maybe it is just the woman in me but I don't like when relationships end without closure.
