NC State Student Media
Quick tips for good writing
- Interview more sources than you’ll ever need for one story. The more information to work with, the easier to write the article.
- Write in past tense, third person, plural.
- Include first and last name, year and major when attributing quotes.
- Show, don’t tell. Use descriptive language to set the scene.
- Answer the five W’s and the H; who, what, when, where, why and how.
- Use “said” when attributing quotes. Do not use “says” or “stated” or “exclaimed.” Focus on what a person said, not how they said it.
- Always double check the spelling of people’s names and their majors.
- Majors are always written in lower case with the exception of English or foreign languages.
- Before submitting a story, read it out loud. Does it sound good?
- New speaker = new paragraph.
- Do not use cliché phrases.
- Avoid wordiness. Don’t try to impress readers with lofty vocabulary.
- Be specific. Don’t use words like: some, a few, a lot, several or many.