How to write articles for a Newspaper

Newspapers

Part and parcel of every family, we wake up to the slight but ever so enchanting smell of petroleum oil, the warm touch of those crisp and freshly printed sheets and the beautifully illustrated cover, sometimes folded in two, lying on our doorstep or sometimes rolled into a cylinder, tossed in swiftly by our hawker bhaiya and found in the most unexpected of places.

And this is how our day kicks in. With a cup of chai and the latest edition of our newspaper, we feel complete, energised and ready to go out and face the world. It wouldn’t be wrong to say our mornings are incomplete without our daily dose of Newspapers. But ever wonder what goes into making a newspaper? How do these beautiful yet thought provoking articles get incubated, each day, every day without fail? How do editors and printers manage to whip up invigorating content for their readers in a limited span of 24 hours?

Excited?!

Well, read on then.

For those who do not know much, writing an article can appear to be quite overwhelming. It may appear to be rocket science, a skill worthy of only those Ivy league graduates or a witchcraft capable of being pulled off by the greatest of sorcerers who exist in modern times, but I would say…

Nonsense!

Article writing is a skill, and like all the other skills of this realm (excluding the heavens and the netherworld) it can be learned and with a little practice can be perfected to stand out. Writing an article for a newspaper is a slightly different business but even then, the basics remain the same.

Step 1 : Find Your breaking News.

Isn’t it obvious? Since you’re writing for a newspaper, the first ingredient would be NEWS! Accumulate as much intel as you can, ensuring its authenticity and the reliability of the source. Genuineness is the key here, since you wouldn’t want your favourite newspaper to serve you…

(Drumrolls)

FAKE NEWS!!

Step 2 : Filter what’s important

You don’t want to be baffled by information overload. So the next step would be to sort out what’s relevant and useless information be discarded. Organise important facts and mentions that narrate your story with clarity.

Step 3 : Draft your article.

Finally the moment when you actually write your first rough draft. Open with a captivating line and gradually mellow down with highlighting facts and noteworthy events. Be as clear and crisp as you can. Avoid ambiguity and let your article be simple for the average reader to understand.

Step 4 : edit, edit and…EDIT!

Your article may be your best creation ever and it’s natural to feel proud of it but even the best composed articles need to be edited thoroughly. And we are not talking about spelling, grammar and punctuation, for those will always be unforgivable mistakes.

Your article should be simple, precise and straight to the point.

And there you have it. Your article! Save it, Print it, Delete it (okay, don’t delete it coz what’s the point, right?) or publish it.

You’re the boss!