Editor's note: Lawrence Connor is a former managing editor of the Indianapolis Star. He has put together this package of tips to assist high school journalists. His tips are broken up into different links found here.

WRITING THE STORY

After you are at your computer, type the most important notes when they are fresh in your mind. If possible, arrange them roughly in a way you expect to use them in the story.  A rough outline is useful on long, complex features. For shorter features, a simple outline consisting of five or six points should be sufficient. The basis of a good narrative is to tell events in the order in which they occur. 

Ask yourself: How much ground do I want to cover? What’s the best approach to take? What's the point of the story, its central message? The answer should become the story's key paragraph. It might fit in the lead or it might come a few paragraphs later.

The opening paragraphs are crucial. If you can't hook readers early, you'll lose them. There are several ways to begin. Select the one you believe will lure readers into your story. Let’s suppose you’re writing about a retired professional football player --  6-foot, 7-inch, 280-pound Timothy (Tank) Tarabell – who recently won awards for day lilies he raises in his commercial greenhouse in Hope, Arkansas.

To tell Tank’s story, you may choose a narrative or anecdotal lead: “Tank Tarabell, a tackle on the Peoria Dragons football team, made up his mind to quit football in the third quarter of a game against the Grand Rapids Panthers when he heard a spectator shout, ‘Tank, you’re over the hill.”

A descriptive lead might begin: “Tank Tarabell’s arena today is no longer a football field; it’s a greenhouse on the outskirts of his hometown of Hope, Ark.”

Try a situation opening: “Tank Tarabell had a decision to make: should he continue to knock down running backs on the football field or should he retire to raise day lilies.”

Involve the reader by asking: “Would you be willing to give up a job that pays a million dollars a year to raise day lilies in Hope, Arkansas?”

A teaser lead, if handled deftly, can be effective: “Tank Tarabell had a decision to make that would change his life completely.”

And then there is the umbrella lead used most often in news stories, employing the five Ws – who, what, when, where, and why – and how. It might read: “Timothy (Tank) Tarabell, a 6-foot, 7-inch tackle, decided to quit the Peoria Panthers football team yesterday to pursue his hobby of raising day lilies in his hometown of Hope, Ark., after a fan shouted, ‘Tank, you’re over the hill.’”

A quotation lead needs a strong quote to work. You could write: “I’d rather grow day lilies than spend Sunday afternoons knocking down quarterbacks;” then follow with a line about who made the announcement and where it took place.

If you’re stumped, don’t gaze at the monitor waiting for an inspiration; move on and begin writing the rest of the story. Before long, a lead very likely will emerge. Some of the best writers advocate churning out the story from memory without looking at notes; using the notes later to fill in the blanks or checking for accuracy. Some suggest writing the story as though you were telling it to a friend, or writing a letter.  

Don’t be concerned about answering each of the five “Ws” in the lead of your feature story but make sure that most, if not all of them, are answered somewhere. It isn’t necessary to spell out everything in detail. Allow the reader to make some obvious deductions. Resist the urge to cram all of the notes you have gathered into your story. It might be painful but pitch the colorful quote or the clever line, if they impede the story.  Stay focused on your theme and avoid going off on tangents.

If a story has several elements, try to dispose of each element before moving on to the next point. Readers tend to give up if forced to jump back and forth.  

Strive for simplicity. Make your prose clear, precise – and concise. To accomplish this noble goal, you can do no better than heed this advice from Strunk and White’s handy book, “The Elements of Style:”

“Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.”

Details can enhance a story.  Tell what things look and sound and smell and feel like. Be specific. Make it a red 2007 Chevrolet Impala instead of just a car.  Create an impression that you were at the scene. Don’t be pompous. Avoid slang and don’t strain in trying to be humorous. 

Rely on single, active verbs. Why write it, “They made a decision” when “They decided” says it more vividly. Prose tends to be livelier in the active voice. "Police cornered the bandits" is shorter and stronger than writing it in the passive voice: "The bandits were cornered by police."   Place verbs close to the subject. In an attempt to jam information into their stories, some sloppy writers insert non-restrictive clauses into a sentence to squeeze in comments whether relevant or not. They'll write: "John Jones, who earned a master's degree in archeology at SMU, found the body." At least make the clause pertinent. If you believe the information needs to be told, find another spot for it.

There are other impediments that muddy sentences: Inserting asides in parentheses often force readers to re-read a sentence. Including too many numbers in a sentence tends to discourage readers. Instead of giving a person’s lengthy job title, why not describe the job or tell what the person does. Generally, readers don’t like to deal with two or more thoughts in the same sentence. That doesn’t mean every sentence must be short, of course; that can make for choppy prose, but if it takes two readings to understand a sentence, it's too long or it’s too complex. Take care, too, that you don’t mention someone early in the story and pick him up 20 paragraphs later and expect the reader to remember him. Reintroduce him with an identifying phrase.    

Try varying the length of your sentences. After two or three-line sentences, come back with a brief one. A sentence of four typewritten lines is about all an average reader will be able to handle. One of the textbooks on writing carries a chart showing the average sentence lengths versus readability. It states that if the sentence has eight words or less, it’s very easy to read; 11 words or less, it’s easy to read; 14 it’s fairly easy, 17 is standard, 21 words and it becomes fairly difficult, 25 difficult, and 29 or more very difficult.

Strive for rhythm in your prose. How does it sound read aloud? Does it flow or does it appear jerky and unclear? When moving from one section to the next, try to make the transition seem natural. Don't simply rely on the standbys -- “meanwhile” and “meantime” -- to get from one part to the next but look for natural bridges. And don't overdo the connecting conjunctions – “but” and “and” –as transitional tools. Some writers stew as much over endings as openings.  They think they must tie up every story with a clever bow. It isn’t necessary, but do try to find a way to circle back to the lead or theme without forcing it.

Choice metaphors and similes can elevate prose but make sure that the comparisons are appropriate. Few writers are gifted with the ability to come up with them. Even Aristotle was impressed with them. “The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor,” he wrote. But he cautioned: “It is the one thing that cannot be learned from others; and it also is a sign of genius.”

The late Bob Collins, who spent 43 years in The Indianapolis Star’s sports department, may not have qualified as a genius, but he certainly entertained readers with his uncanny ability to use colorful metaphors. He was at Augusta, Georgia, in April of 1967 reporting on Ben Hogan at age 53 competing in the Masters golf tourney 18 years after suffering critical injuries in an automobile crash that was supposed to have ended his golfing career.  Here is how Bob began his account:

“Ben Hogan, living in the autumn of a fabled golfing career, reached back yesterday and found another springtime. And for one day, at least, it was his golf tournament – his crowd, his world again. You could feel the emotion. It swept the Augusta National golf course like a sudden rainstorm as the little man who has been called the greatest golfer of all time marched over the sun-kissed fairways with those peculiar stiff-legged strides.”

Note the metaphors -- autumn and springtime – and the simile “like a sudden rainstorm.”  How much more effective than a routine news lead that might have read: “Ben Hogan, whose golfing career was supposed to have ended 18 years ago when he was critically injured in a car accident, returned to Augusta National golf course yesterday to take the first-round lead in the Masters golf tourney. 

Collins was back at the Masters in 1983 to tell about another aging legend, this one Arnold Palmer. He began:

“Leaks in the sky were patched just before noon. The sun smiled through – and there he was, stalking Augusta National again.

“The years rolled away and for a brief, shining moment it was Camelot. The old king – gray on top and wearing an extra set of eyes, but still stoking the competitive fires – hit charge on the bugle.

“And the army came limping and hopping, ready to throw every last ounce of the diminishing stamina into a final battle. Like their hero, members of Arnie’s Army are getting a bit long in the tooth. They sort of stumble into step and take the hills carefully. Many appear to have bivouacked over a few too many meals. As a military group it looked more like the last encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic.”

A bit overstated perhaps but it was sports copy – and overstatement in sports copy is tolerated. Bob’s sure use of metaphors gave his readers a feel for the event that few writers could have achieved. Palmer “stalked” the course; he didn’t simply play a round of golf. Arnie was not just gray-haired and wearing glasses, he was “gray on top and wearing an extra set of eyes,” and his army “took the hills carefully.”

It takes a sure touch to handle metaphors, but they can enhance a story by providing insight and color. Try to cultivate the habit of seeing comparisons in events and happenings to make your prose glow.  

Chapters:

The Interview
Writing the Story
Editing your Copy
A Few Don'ts
Some General Advice
Say What You Mean
Use Words Correctly
Some Common Errors
Helpful Books
About the Author