The inverted pyramid was born during the Civil War
At about the time these Union soldiers were marching off to war, journalists invented the traditional inverted pyramid news structure. … Read the full article
Story structure
Think Outside the Pyramid for good writing structure
Master a writing structure that outperforms the traditional news format
Here’s the good news: You already know a structure that works for virtually everything you write.… Read the full article
Topple the inverted pyramid style
Feature-style story structure outperforms the traditional news format
“Prose is architecture,” said Ernest Hemingway. “It’s not interior design.”
When you write, you’re building something. Specifically, when you’re writing corporate communications, content marketing or public relations messages, you’re building an argument.… Read the full article
Feature article structure outperforms pyramid
Impact study: Features boost readership, satisfaction, image
Feature-style stories outperform traditional news stories in readership, satisfaction and image.
That’s according to “The Impact Study of Newspaper Readership” (PDF).… Read the full article
Inverted pyramid structure of news writing topples
Ways With Words study: Features more effective
If I told you there was a communication tool that reduces readership, diminishes understanding and causes engagement to take a nosedive, would you use it?… Read the full article
How to write transitions: cliffhangers
External transitions move readers from section to section
Talk about a transition. Here’s how author Erik Larson ends one chapter of Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America:
“‘Would the thin rods (of the first Ferris wheel) be sufficient to sustain not only the enormous weight of the structure and that of the 2,000 passengers who might chance to be in the cars, but the pressure of the wind as well?’
… Read the full article How to write a transition sentence
Avoid transitional clichés
Transitions can be hard to write. Maybe that’s why we keep turning back to these hackneyed transitions, listed in a Poynter Institute forum:
Let’s pause and ponder that for a minute too.… Read the full article
How do you write a good transition?
Internal transitions make your message flow smoothly
Internal, or small, transitions move your copy from paragraph to paragraph, from sentence to sentence, from idea to idea.… Read the full article
Why it’s important to write good transitions
‘Signal words’ help readers follow along
“Signal words” — aka transitions — are the narrative glue that helps readers see what’s coming next, understand your whole message and see how the parts fit together (Herber, 1978).… Read the full article
Hybrid organizational structures in writing
Hourglasses, spirals, oranges and more
“When you have news, report it,” advises Roy Peter Clark, Poynter Institute senior scholar. “When you have a story, tell it.”… Read the full article