—In essence, the writing of news stories requires simplicity and conciseness. An average reader of the newspaper does not know big, fancy words and has limited understanding of the technical processes. For example, you cannot expect an average reader to understand the exact terminology with regard to an open-heart surgery, so you need to avoid such terms while writing your story.

—Remember, the goal is not to impress your readers with how much you know; the idea is to give them information without causing confusion or boredom.

—So first rule of thumb – use simple language, avoid jargon (technical terms that are bound to confuse the reader) and short sentences along with keep the story short. At the most 500 words.

—The introduction of a news story is the most important part of the story. As a rule, it should try and answer the following questions: What, why, when, where, who and how. This is also known as the 5 Ws and an H rule. Sometimes, however, it is not possible to answer all those questions in the first paragraph (depending on the story). Make sure that the story addresses them.

—Deciding what facts to divulge in the story at what point is one of the key elements of writing out a news story. It all depends on the facts. For example, if you have to write out a story about the violence in Karachi, you will start with where it happened, who was involved in it (if you know the names or affiliations), how people many were killed and when it happened. If somebody of note died – as in the case of MQM MPA Raza Haider’s murder – then you are likely to start with the name of the person killed and then proceed to give details of how it happened. If the violence is connected to an earlier incident, then you’re likely to give details of that in the later paragraphs to remind readers of how the two incidents are connected.

—You start with the most important point of your story – for example, “20 people dead” is the most important fact about your story when you are writing about the violence that took place in Karachi recently. Thus, this should come in the first sentence – the lede (journalism slang for lead or first two sentences) – of your story. The same rule is not necessarily applicable for feature story (to be discussed in later classes).

—Why the inverted pyramid? Because 1. you need to be able to catch your reader’s attention 2. because limited space available in newspaper for a story and it is usually so better to have important points first  so that the sub-editor has a rough idea where to chop off the story from.

—The first two sentences of your story and is the most important part of your story. As a reporter, you use the lede to hook your reader to the story and as discussed, relay important information to your reader.

—There is no hard and fast rule on what makes a good lede. A good lede changes depending on the story you are writing. One of the best ways to get familiar with a lede is to read as much as possible. Read newspaper, magazines; read breaking stories, features and reviews. The more you read the more you will be able to come up with good ledes and decide for yourself which are the most effective ledes for any given story.