How to write an article for school/college newspaper?
Every school and colleges have their own newspaper which is published quarterly or yearly. This gives an exposure to student’s talent thereby encouraging them to exhibit their talent.
There are also chances where you can publish your thoughts and give canvas to what you feel. Having said this, there are various ways through which you can express your talent.
One such talent is to write a news report or a feature article and get it published in your school or college newspaper. How to write it as professional as a journalist? Here is a breakdown of points for you to write an article for your school or college newspaper.
The 5 W’s and 1 H factor:
The basics of any newspaper article are to include the 5 W’s and 1 H in them. What is 5 W’s and 1 H?
1. When?
2. Why?
3. Where?
4. Who?
5. What?
6. How?
These determine any news that is to be published. An article must summarize which must include all these to complete it. Both feature article, and news report must consist of this which helps in educating the reader of what exactly is the issue or event that has happened.
Along with this, there are 6 other excellent tips that are mentioned below which must be incorporated to write the best article for your school/college newspaper.
There are two types of writing when it comes to writing for newspaper.
1.News report
2.Feature writing
1.News report: News report follows writing an incident or an event as it happened. Here there is no chance for expressing creativity or use decorative words. This follows a straight approach to providing news to the general public.
2.Feature writing: This is one of the genres for writing and expressing your thoughts. This differs from the regular article as this has to be written in a style where the public is informed with the facts. There can be listicles, how to articles, general information and others that can be presented here in the form of feature articles.
6 Best tips to write for school/college newspaper
1. Have a journalistic approach towards the news: Writing regular article differs from the article that is being written for a newspaper. Hence while you are writing for your school/college newspaper, it is mandatory to have a journalistic approach to it.
This means that it must answer to all the questions that readers gets while reading the story.
2. Use the inverted pyramid structure: Inverted pyramid is one of the structures which need to be adopted while you are writing an article for newspaper. It consists of the headline at first, the lead for the story, the body section, and conclusion at the end.
3. Be sure to use the required terms: Newspaper always use some of the journalistic terms which must be used here as well. This makes it look more realistic and approachable.
4. Read articles of newspapers: To get acquainted to using the newspaper terms, it becomes necessary to read them first. This becomes easier to write along in an efficient manner.
5. Include the 5 W’s and 1 H: Above all. Te concept of 5 W’s and 1 H must be included while an article or news report is being written.
6. Research on the topic: Before writing any topic, it becomes necessary to research on the particular topic. This give an impression that the writer has in depth knowledge of what the event is about.
7. Edit the content written: Once the whole article is finished, the next step is to edit the written content. This makes it easier to revise it properly at the end. Editing is a major part of writing which must not be missed.
This is the section which gives the writer a chance to modify the already written content.
8. Make the use of active voice: Writing in active voice gives it a realistic touch. Hence it is always advised to write an article in active voice.
9. Use quotes to make it effective: Including quotes or anecdotes to the existing story gives amazing information to present to readers. Having facts in the article makes the news more reliable.
10. Know the word limit: Besides presenting the information, it is necessary to know the word limit that is given to you. Usually newspapers have 300-400 word limit. It is crucial to write all the facts, information within the given space.
These are few of the tips that can be used to write an effective article for school/college newspaper. It is very important to be specific and accurate about the information that you are presenting in the newspaper as it reaches the public. There should not be any error or wrong information that must be put across.