Building a Solid Structure

Beyond the inverted pyramid: Seven tips for organizing your next story

by Ann Wylie, president, Wylie Communications Inc.

The inverted pyramid doesn't work for all stories. If your piece isn't breaking news, you need to use a different structure. Some tips for organizing:

Take time to organize. Many writers lose time by not outlining their stories.
Think of your material as "buckets of information." That will keep you from creating a "muddle in the middle," with a good beginning and good ending and everything else dumped in between.
Invest time on the lead. Heavy workloads have led to fewer effective leads in recent years.
Show in the lead and tell in the nut paragraph. Most writers do the reverse.
If you can't tell the reader what your story is in one sentence, you probably haven't figured it out yet.
Fill in the background. I see many articles in which writers have omitted vital background information, apparently assuming their readers will remember it from earlier stories.
Do the heavy lifting. If writers don't analyze and organize, their readers have to. Most readers won't work that hard. A common fault: moving from one interview to the next, not leading readers through a coherent argument to a logical conclusion.

Articles aren't just a series of facts. Your story should be more than the sum of your notes.

Need more techniques for creating a structure that makes your copy easier to read and write? Check out Ann's workshops and learning tools.

About the author

Ann Wylie runs a company called Wylie Communications Inc. Ann works with communicators who want to reach more readers and with organizations that want to get the word out. To learn more about her training, consulting or writing and editing services, call Ann at 816/997-8753 or e-mail her at ann@wyliecomm.com. Get a FREE subscription to Ann's e-mail newsletter at http://www.wyliecomm.com/newsletter_signup.shtml.

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