You leads should concisely summarize each story. INSTRUCTIONS: First, write a straight news lead for each of the following stories. Also known as the deductive method of organization, general-to-specific order is more commonly used than the reverse method, specific-to-general order (the inductive method). It never healed quite right, so they offered me this job, and I took it. Here, in the spirit of first-personhood, is an example from one of my own stories: “For many of us, Sept. 11, 2001, is one of those touchstone dates — we remember exactly where we were when we heard that the planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Police halted traffic. Charlotte Lopez owns The Gift Shoppe at 1010 Main Street in your city. Coffee or soda refills, once free at many restaurants, no longer are free. Some gasoline stations restrict the use of their washroom facilities and charge for the air used to inflate tires. “After mass street protests in Poland, legislators with the country’s ruling party have abruptly reversed their positions and voted against a proposal to completely ban abortion.” (By NPR’s Camila Domonoske), “The European Parliament voted Tuesday to ratify the landmark Paris climate accord, paving the way for the international plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions to become binding as soon as the end of this week.” (By NPR’s Rebecca Hersher), “The United States announced it is suspending efforts to revive a cease-fire in Syria, blaming Russia’s support for a new round of airstrikes in the city of Aleppo.” (By NPR’s Richard Gonzales). Keep It Short. They reported: "We couldn't tell that the boy had been paddled. This kind of lead steps back to make an authoritative observation about the story and its broader context. There's all kinds of myths about circuses, like about these elephants here. A third of them write checks." Some charge a $250 non-refundable pet fee. You should emphasize those aspects in your lead. In a written story, that’s the function of the “nut graph” (which will be the subject of a future post) — not the lead. State the subject and tell the author’s purpose for writing or the point to be proved. "We can't justify the cost of the freebies. But, before the police and other city employees arrived at the scene, dozens of other motorists and bystanders stopped at the scene. He points out the labels attached to the bright metal doors, counting out loud. I've lived in San Francisco, and I had a lot of gay friends there. Scream and run?" _____10. I took down their exact words." The study found that the average employed man spends 52 minutes, or 11 percent of each working day, not working: in scheduled coffee breaks, unscheduled rest breaks, at lunch beyond the normal hour and so forth. Funny thing about this blog post: When I sat down to write it, it dawned on me that I was trying to write a good lead for a post about how to write a good lead. For purists, this is not a comfortable position. We understand right away that the story will be about a high rate of gun-related murder in Brazil. Hannah Bloch is a digital editor for international news at NPR. Even then, people tend to tire of the animal and return it to the shelter once their fear abates. . They couldn't. I also call this The New Yorker lead because the magazine regularly publishes feature stories and profiles that run 10,000 words or longer, and when you’re writing stories of that length, you can afford to take 1,000 words to meander toward the purpose or subject of the story. Most require identification, including a driver's license and a credit card—especially if the amount is more than $50. For it to work, you need to understand not just the immediate piece you’re writing, but also the big picture. I guess if I should be concerned about anything, it would be getting AIDS that way. So do many good leads. Big dogs—those over 40 pounds, especially5-year-old-and-up dogs—are about as much in demand these days as big cars. I'll be 60 next year. Ideally, a lead should be between 25 and 40 words. Or, your instructor may ask you to write a complete feature based upon one of these sets of facts. That’s as good a definition as any of a “zinger” lead. Observational lead. Robbins also found that 95 percent of home burglars are men, most have less than a high school education, and most are between 14 and 23 in age, have no job and live in the neighborhood they burglarize. She said: "My son's been beaten. You need to make sure your first-person presence is essential — because you experienced something or have a valuable contribution and perspective that justifies conveying the story explicitly through your own eyes. Lt. James Robbins of your city's police department has made a study of everyone convicted of robbery in your city during the last year. PART 2: WRITING AN ARGUABLE AND NARROW THESIS STATEMENT AROUND AN ISSUE THAT EXCITES YOU Because you’re a living, breathing human being, you have strong feelings about some things. Women have a reputation for gossiping and talking, yet the study found the reputation is undeserved. Others were caught for traffic violations, like speeding, and had everything they'd stolen piled up in plain sight in the back seat. INSTRUCTIONS: First, write a straight news lead for each of the following stories. Rather than stating I was in Afghanistan in the first sentence, I tried to draw in readers by reminding them that the memory of Sept. 11 is something many of us share in common, regardless of where we were that day. If you find yourself struggling to come up with a decent lead or your lead just doesn’t seem strong, make sure your reporting is thorough and there aren’t unanswered questions or missing details and points. They have tried to get the city to prosecute people who write a worthless check but learned that it would take at least a year before the district attorney's overworked staff could get to it. It means you, the writer, are immediately a character in your own story. He questioned people on how their agencies deal with burglaries and on their opinions of the characteristics of burglary suspects. They also hint at the broader context in which the news occurred. The money fell to the pavement. The second journalism student, Maryann Lathan, added: "These are some of the things people said when I interviewed them. 2. They drove to your city's largest shopping center. So today, as a matter of policy, most will not take out-of-town or temporary checks. Instead, he put his campaign in the hands of a true believer who promises to amplify the GOP nominee’s nationalist message and reinforce his populist impulses.”. For it to work, you need to understand not just the immediate piece you’re writing, but also the big picture. Someone called 18 people in the city last night. That's assault and battery, and I want her arrested." The average man in the study earned $13 an hour, compared to 9.34 for the average woman. Steroid abuse can lead to serious health problems. Also, more and more apartment complexes are banning or restricting pets. This scene-setting is just one benefit of Byrd’s thorough reporting. We wanted to see what would happen. It sets the tone and pace and direction for everything that follows. Then I did feel uncomfortable. Why should a reader be interested in you? There was no way that I could identify anyone—not with a couple hundred customers a day coming through my store. The report adds that: "almost half were caught because of dumb luck. 2. Examples and Observations . He finally admitted that he had stopped to play on the way home from school, forgot the time and got home late. Here’s a powerful anecdotal lead to a story about Brazil’s murder rate and gun laws by NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro: “At the dilapidated morgue in the northern Brazilian city of Natal, Director Marcos Brandao walks over the blood-smeared floor to where the corpses are kept. Businesses given a worthless check can either take a loss or hire a collection agency to find the customer. Yesterday she took a fraudulent check to the city attorney. But I think everyone is wary when it comes to AIDS." In a written story, that’s the function of the “nut graph” (which will be the subject of a future post) — not the lead. The writer should choose details that make specific points about the general statement. You leads should concisely summarize each story. Steps for General-to-Specific Order in Body Paragraphs This strategy is effective in cause/effect, comparison/contrast, classification, and argumentation essays. "About the only people who come in here and want to adopt a big dog are businesses or crime victims—after something has happened to them," says the Humane Society's director, Rika Brill. If your reporting is incomplete, that will often show up in a weak lead. "One woman told me she couldn't believe she'd won, and then she told me she couldn't believe it when I told her she hadn't. Keep It Simple The cost of owning a big dog averages about $500 a year—just for the bare essentials. "They told me if I couldn't positively identify the person who wrote it, they couldn't prosecute. Here are 11 creative writing exercises to get you started: 1. The same study found that the amount of effort expended by women at work is 112 percent that of men. Hell, some of the ones we got are so dumb they can't remember a simple trick from one year to the next. If you’ve reported your story well, your lead will reflect this. The journalism lead’s main job (I’m personally fond of the nostalgic spelling, “lede,” that derives from the bygone days of typesetting when newspaper folks needed to differentiate the lead of a story from the lead of hot type) is to make the reader want to stay and spend some precious time with whatever you’ve written. Understanding General-to-Specific Order in Composition. For some students this begins to happen internally or through what we call “thinking,” unvoiced mulling, sorting, comparing, speculating, applying, etc. Robbins surveyed a total of 250 people, including jail inmates. I'm more worried about catching colds than I am about catching AIDS." After convincing people they had won a new car, the caller asked them to drop by the dealership this morning to pick it up. Second, write a feature lead for each story. Which means they constitute the majority of the nearly 200 dogs and cats put to sleep each week at the Humane Society. As we talked, it became obvious that he boy was lying. When I put my hand out, a lot automatically grabbed it. Second, write a feature lead for each story. To that end, please write your lead first — don’t undermine it by going back and thinking of one to slap on after you’ve finished writing the rest of the story. An elderly woman said: "I didn't mind shaking his hand. They questioned the boy, who is 9 years old. During a conversation with a reporter, he said: "Some people look on work with a circus as a glamorous job. We even get a hint of how the place smells. Thesis seminar in English, which, however, finishes with the winter term and the students are “left alone”. In composition, general-to-specific order is a method of developing a paragraph, essay, or speech by moving from a broad observation about a topic to specific details in support of that topic. The truck hit a particularly bad pothole, and the backdoor of the vehicle flew open. ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience and for our, Examples of Great Introductory Paragraphs, Definition and Examples of Climactic Order in Composition and Speech, 5 Examples of How to Write a Good Descriptive Paragraph, Revision Checklist for a Descriptive Paragraph, How to Develop and Organize a Classification Essay, How to Teach Topic Sentences Using Models, Supporting Detail in Composition and Speech, A Draft Classification Essay: Types of Shoppers, Practice in Supporting a Topic Sentence with Specific Details, Definition and Examples of Body Paragraphs in Composition, Tips on How to Write an Argumentative Essay, Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia, M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester, B.A., English, State University of New York. A 50-year-old man said: "He looked normal to me. Then, rewrite a Good Thesis Statement. Also, people are turning big dogs in to the shelter at an alarming rate. And here’s another by NPR’s Camila Domonoske, who knows her literary stuff, juxtaposing the mundane (taxes) with the highbrow (literary criticism): “Tax records and literary criticism are strange bedfellows. Michelle Rafter, All Rights Reserved, one of the best stories the magazine has ever run, on new social networks teenagers are flocking to, what beekeeping had taught him about management, https://www.chatebooks.com/blog-4-Simple-Tips-on-Writing-a-Concise-and-Impressive-Book-Synopsis, All writers are rewriters – here’s how to get better at it, The Pulitzer Prize and the Hungry Horse News, Twitter’s a Dumpster Fire, But I Can’t Not Use It. It has not been a particularly bad night, yet there are nine shooting victims in cold storage.”. They share the same cages all winter. No one wants a dead article! Writing ledes for feature stories, as opposed to hard-news ledes, requires a different approach. Just make sure you are bringing your readers along with you. What else could I do? The lead is the introduction — the first sentences — that should pique your readers’ interest and curiosity. Second, write a feature lead for each story. Or, they did something that made it easy to find them, like making a lot of noise, so the neighbors heard them, or using their real names while selling a piece of merchandise that was easy to identify. I was born into it. This kind of lead steps back to make an authoritative observation about the story and its broader context. 1. Exercise 6: Writing Feature Leads. Specificity: Though you are essentially summarizing information in most leads, try to be specific as possible. A story that goes unread is pointless. Full-sized dogs, like Great Danes, Saint Bernards, Russian wolfhounds and German shepherds, are being unloaded for some of the same reasons: cost and space. Some offered to help. . Many freebies no longer are free. When men buy a pair of slacks, alterations—which used to always be free—may cost $10 to $20." Even the most experienced and distinguished writers know this. It’s the opening hook that pulls you in to read a story. If it doesn’t induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence, your article is dead.” — William Zinsser, On Writing Well. Exercise 2 Write three (3) to five (5) arguable thesis statements. A 30-year-old woman said: "I'm always kissing my gay friends. ", Thomas J. Serle works for Parker Bros. 3. There are many different ways to start a story. Along with the disappearance of those items go free gift-wrapping, which was benefit to many last-minute holiday shoppers.