Tips for writing a how-to story
Service stories aren’t news articles. Which means that the inverted pyramid isn’t the right structure.
Instead, use the feature-style story structure, and organize your piece like this:
Story types
How to organize survey results press releases and blog posts
How to write about research
It’s not the survey, silly. Most survey stories fail because they focus on the survey, not on the survey results. Here’s how to organize a successful survey story that focuses on the findings, not on the poll:
Lift survey results off the page.
… Read the full articleHow to write a case study [template]
How to organize a business case, step-by-step
A colleague in health system marketing counsels his case study writers to “Get the patient to the hospital.” Wrong!… Read the full article
What is a listicle, or list article?
Three types of list stories to try
Not all list stories are created equal. BuzzFeed’s Jack Shepherd lists three types of lists for Nieman Lab:
- Listicles.
Write a great list with this listicle template
6 tips for crafting list articles, blog posts
People love listicles. Lists get attention, reach skimmers and scanners, get remembered and shared.
No wonder you see so many communicators write listicles and long-form list posts for their social media and content marketing streams.… Read the full article
Sample tip sheet: Silver Anvil winner shares tips
PR pros get attention with how-to stories
When PR pros at the U.S. Green Building Council needed to round up resources in their Green Apple Day of Service, they didn’t write stories telling volunteers to get donations.… Read the full article
Why tip sheets?
Service stories get read, shared, used and acted upon
How-to information is the No. 2 type of content that gets retweeted, according to research by Dan Zarrella, viral marketing scientist for HubSpot.… Read the full article
How to create a tip sheet
7 steps for writing how-to articles
When the folks at Topolobampo, Chicago’s cathedral to Mexican cuisine, wanted to sell more syrah, they didn’t put signs on the tables saying “Buy wine!”… Read the full article
Quotes on list writing
What writers and others say
“Love them or hate them, informational posts presented in list format are easily digestible, and allow for an efficient transfer of your value proposition to the reader.”
… Read the full articleWrite by number
Stop reinventing the wheel, use story templates
I once asked fiber artist Jason Pollen how he could be creative under the constraints of designing textiles on assignment for clients like Chanel and Donna Karan.… Read the full article