You, Too, Can be an Honors Journalism Graduate

“The Five W’s, and the H”

1. Who
2. What
3. When
4. Where
5. Why
6. How

“Why am I writing this?”

1. to inform?
2. to notify?
3. to explain?
4. to feature?
   a.k.a., “human-interest”

“Who is my audience?”

“What is my hook”?
a.k.a., “peg”

that is, “With what compelling bit of this story will I open to motivate the reader to proceed beyond the lead?”

rhymes with “deed”, not “dead”

refers to first sentence

Speaking of “lead”…

1. represents the end of the story, not the beginning of the story
   that is, the result
2. pretend nothing follows
   that is, write a one-sentence summary
3. do not exceed 21 words

And, thus, always be concise.

Write as few syllables as possible

Think Zen: “Less is more.”

That is, unless your name is Tolstoy, limit to two typed pages.

If you cannot limit to two typed pages:

 1.  maybe you don’t really know what you want to communicate

2.  maybe it doesn’t need to be communicated at-all

3.  maybe it requires more than one story

Think, “price of gas is hecka high”

That is, “Is this trip really necessary?”

Maybe it’s too late.

Maybe it’s repetitive.

Maybe it belongs in another medium.

Write for a fifth-grade level (at least, in the U.S.)