A blog post, article or other piece of copy is what journalists call a story. Here’s how to write one.

You start a story by telling the reader what it is about. You do this briefly in the headline. Then again in the introduction or intro, which is a stop press paragraph.

Ask yourself:

• what is this story about
• what information am I trying to get across
• what points must I make to do this?

Sum up the story in your mind in one simple sentence. This is your intro.

Its purpose is to tell the reader what the article is about and draw the reader in. As a rule, readers prefer brief intros.

Write so a reader who only samples your intro still has a basic grasp of your story.

Newspapers teach journalists — on both tabloid and quality papers — to start with a single sentence of between 15 and 21 words. This is what you should strive for, although at times you’ll need to use more words.

As an aside, proper nouns made up of multiple words only count as a single word when you’re calculating the ideal intro length.

Your first paragraph can be one sentence or three but keep it short and crisp.

Next comes the how: how did it happen or, more usually in your case, what happens next?

This is background information or explanation.

After the explanation comes amplification. You amplify the point or points following on from the intro.

Make these points one by one and in descending order of importance.

Last, after making all the main points, tie up any loose ends — that is add any extra or background information deemed necessary but of lesser importance.

Originally published March 25th, 2010.