Feature writing

Features go viral more often, says Reuters Institute

While news stories make up the bulk of the content on three European news sites, most of the most-shared stories are features.… Read the full article

Three ways to create more feature-style stories

Increase the percentage of feature-style stories you produce, and you’ll increase reading.

Or so say the researchers behind “Impact,” a 2001 study (PDF) led by the Readership Institute at Northwestern University and sponsored by the Newspaper Association of America and the American Society of Newspaper Editors.… Read the full article

A way around the pyramid

Lift ideas off the page with display copy

There is one great thing about the inverted pyramid lead.

“The only benefit of the inverted pyramid lead was that it put a lot of valuable information high in the story,” write Mario R.… Read the full article

Think outside the pyramid

The traditional news structure fails readers

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

Authority rules

Experts are most trusted, says Edelman’s Trust Barometer

Trust saw some big changes in 2011:

Trust in credentialed experts (70%) and company technical specialists (64%) is on the rise.

… Read the full article

One more phrase to avoid

Enough already with the ‘At XX, we …’ construction

At Wylie Communications, we believe that writers should write and that approvers should check the facts and leave the headlines alone.… Read the full article

Mark time

Try a chronological structure

Work on a client’s new website has me thinking about navigational structure.

Whether you’re organizing a website or a magazine article, a museum exhibit or your family’s letters and memorabilia, there are only five ways to structure information.… Read the full article