The rest of the news story--Beginning Reporting

	Home	Prewriting	Writing

	Rewriting	Resources	Contact

Writing The rest of the story We've talked about the lead. Now let's talk about the rest of the story—the middle and end. 1. The real strength of your story will come from the details that back up the promise of the lead. This is the background material, the examples and quotes, the things you have observed, the explanations and definitions and the sense of history. These are the parts that lend meaning and significance to the event or person you are writing about. 2. You can build strength and interest in the middle of the story in a number of ways. Some of them are: a. Raise a question or a dilemma in one paragraph and answer it in the next. Elaborate on this cause and effect by using examples or quotes. b. Introduce background with phrases such as "previously," "in the past" or "two months ago." Put this information in several sections rather than one big block. c. Repeat a word or phrase from one paragraph to the next. d. Use parallel structure. Use the same grammatical order in succeeding sentences or place the same number of sentences in succeeding paragraphs. e. Vary sentence length. Follow a long sentence with a short one. f. Use anecdotes. You used one in the lead, try it in the middle of the story. An anecdote within the story creates momentum, pulling the reader through the copy. g. Use dialogue. Let your readers hear two of your characters talking to one another. h. Use a list to highlight the key points. For example, a court decision or the findings of a scientific study could be summarized in a list. 3. Finally, we have come to the end of the story. Think of it as the lasting impression, the last song you heard on the radio. The ending is often what the reader remembers most about the story, so end strong. The ending is so important that you should know how you are going to end before you start. 4. Many writers save a good morsel for the end, perhaps their second-best quote. (The best quote would be used near the top of the story.) Roger Simon, a columnist for The Baltimore Sun, switches his leads and endings to see which works best in which spot. 5. The most common type of ending is the quote ending. Look for a quote that sums up the main idea of the story. Another favorite is the circle end. In the circle end, you return to an idea expressed in the lead.	Build strength in the middle of your story with: Background material Examples Quotes Definitions Observations
Writing The writing process Getting organized Story structure The news lead—part 1 The news lead—part 2 The rest of the story The tools of the trade
A Web site created by Jim Hall for beginning reporters, those studying the craft and their teachers.