Start here
馃摑 Writing Articles for Dummies: A Step-by-Step for the Unimaginative and Uneducated
A funny, patient, completely practical walk from blank page to a published 600 to 900 word news or opinion article. No talent required, just the willingness to follow ten steps in order.
- 1Before You Type a Single WordFigure out what your article is for, who will read it, and the one point it makes, before your fingers touch the keyboard.9 min
- 2Finding Something Worth Writing AboutTurn a vague topic into an actual story, and learn why boring public records and meetings are where the good stuff hides.10 min
- 3Gathering Stuff: Notes, Documents and QuotesTake notes you can still read tomorrow, get real quotes from real people, record interviews legally, and track where every single fact came from.11 min
- 4The Lede, or How Not to Lose the Reader by Sentence TwoWrite a first sentence that tells the reader what happened and why they should care, and stop writing the kind that make them leave.10 min
- 5The Middle Part Nobody PlansBuild the body of the article: the nut graf, the inverted pyramid, the order of paragraphs, and the one-idea-per-paragraph rule.11 min
- 6Quotes, Numbers and Other Things Beginners MangleAttribute quotes cleanly with 'said', make numbers readable, do per-person math, and round without fibbing.11 min
- 7Write the Ugly First Draft AlreadyBeat procrastination, draft the whole article fast from your outline, and keep your inner editor out of the room until you're done.9 min
- 8Editing: Murdering Your DarlingsCut the draft down to its best words using the read-aloud test, a filler-word hunt, a cliche purge, and a sweep for robot-sounding phrasing.12 min
- 9Headlines, Photos and the Boring Stuff That Makes It Look ProfessionalWrite an honest headline, add a photo with a real caption and credit, strip location data from the image file, and finish with links and a sources list.11 min
- 10Hitting Publish Without Hitting a LawsuitRun the accuracy check, give the other side a fair chance to respond, learn defamation basics in plain words, know how to correct mistakes, and use the final checklist.13 min