This article restates some of the time-tested rules that make for good journalism. The goal should be to get the attention of readers. These points will help you do precisely that.

The intro
Let's assume that the lay-out, picture and headline have already grabbed your reader's attention. When he starts to read the text, it is vital that the first sentence — even the first few words — pull him into the story and make him want to read on.

So the first questions that the writer or sub-editor has to ask are: What is the point of this story? What is the key fact that makes it a news story in the first place? What are the key words that will hook the reader?

A researcher in a British university once conducted a study of which stories in a newspaper are the most and least read. He found that a story with the word 'families' in the first two or three words would be most read, while an article that began with a reference to a council or any official body would attract the fewest readers.

So if you have a story which says that the state government of Maharashtra is to demolish 10 unsafe blocks of flats, rendering 400 families homeless, don't say:
The Maharashtra state government is to demolish 10 unsafe blocks of flats.
Say instead:
Four hundred families will lose their homes when 10 unsafe blocks of flats are demolished.

This breaks the rule of preferring an active to a passive verb, but it is far more likely to grab the reader's attention.

Developing the story
Choosing the intro is among the most important tasks in writing or subbing a news or feature story. If the facts are clear, the rest will almost write itself. But bear in mind the following:

• The first few paragraphs must contain the essence of the story and just enough essential background material to let the reader know what is going on. Above all, don't crowd the top of the story with unnecessary information, names or references to previous stories.
• Any strong, direct quotes, which either back up or react to the story, should be as close to the top of the story as the sense of it allows.
• Quotes which stray from the point should be cut out. Those that raise side-issues — which the story doesn't address until later — should be kept for when the topic crops up.
• As far as possible, let quotes run as a block. Don't break up a person's direct quotes with either paraphrased passages or other material unless it is essential for clarity.
• Always paraphrase if you have to quote from official reports or public relations handouts and the language is longwinded and bureaucratic.
• If a story includes elements which have to be listed, don't try to disguise the fact with spurious linking sentences. Run it as a list, starting each item with a blob or a number.

Exceptions
Many of the stories in a news publication are not straight news stories. They are either follow-ups to a story which has already been published, news analysis, news features or straight features. It's tougher to apply hard and fast rules to these types of articles. They do allow a little more freedom in their construction, but, like a little learning, a little freedom is a dangerous thing.

Follow-ups
Whatever you have that's new, that takes the story further, should be the intro. Those points should be developed until they are exhausted, filling in on bare background detail along the way. Only then should the essential facts of the original story be repeated. If the story has no new facts to speak of, it shouldn't be in the paper.

News analysis
Analysis of any issue or story should make it clearer, not more confusing. If you find yourself reading the same section of a story three times before you understand it, you are not at fault — the writer is. If he can't express himself more clearly, it's the sub's job to make sense of his hidden pearls of wisdom, if necessary by interviewing him to find out what he really means.

News features
These stories don't always have to include entirely new information, but they should go into a subject in much greater depth than anything that has previously been published. The basic principle of news stories still applies: find the element that is most likely to grab the reader's attention, arid make sure it's at the top.

Features
There are more ways to write features than there are sloppy writers in Indian journalism: A brilliant writer can break any of the rules and still grip the reader from beginning to end. Sadly, there are few brilliant writers.

The rest of us need to observe a few guiding principles. The key skill in feature-writing is the ability to tell a story. Often, this will mean sticking to the news basics — most important facts at the start, etc — but there are other techniques.

The most common is the delayed drop. This involves a careful build-up to the key facts of the story, but it shouldn't go on for too long. It's perfectly acceptable to start a feature in pure story-telling mode:

It was a black and starless night as watchman Dilip Singh slowly pedalled his ancient bicycle along the lane from his village.

This technique carries the implication that something really interesting is going to happen soon. But if the writer is still describing the colour of Dilip's bicycle clips and the stubble on his chin six paragraphs later, the reader will start to wonder whether there's anything good on TV. Build up the atmosphere by all means, but don't overdo it.

If the feature is an interview, then the most newsworthy quotes must come upfront, regardless of how late they fell in the actual conversation. The question-and-answer method should be the norm for really big interviews that are events in their own right. And, here too, you don't always have to report the conversation in the order it took place.


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