There are some great writing lessons you can learn from the broadcast news world. I have worked in television and radio newsrooms for about 15 years. Writing for news means sticking to some basic rules. Of course, rules are meant to be broken which broadcasters do from time to time. For the most part, broadcasters use the RULES to help deliver clear, concise copy that is on message and tells an effective story.
I want to share with you some of the lessons I think are most helpful to anyone writing online content for business, blogs or websites. I believe if you follow some or all of these tips you can deliver solid writing!
KEEP IT SIMPLE… SILLY ( OR STUPID)
Broadcast copy must be as simple as possible. Writing for radio and television must be precise. It is not easy to be simple, direct and brief. You need to develop the skills of writing with brevity and to the point and resist the temptation of writing or talking down to your reader.
The idea behind news writing is pretty simple: Keep it short and to the point. Long sentences should be avoided.
Take this tip and translate it for your writing. Copy is easier to read when sentences are short and you keep the number of thoughts per sentence to a minimum.
Be conversational.
Script writing for radio has to be in a conversational style and that means writing for the ear. It’s a great tip to help you write more effective copy for your business, blog or website.
Your narration should sound as natural as possible like you’re telling a story to a friend. This is not the same as trying to imitate spontaneous speech. Instead, this means writing in a style that sounds as relaxed as possible. Use phrases and words you normally use. When you read your narration aloud, do you sound like yourself?
Keep your sentences simple and use basic, easily understood and pronounced words. If you find you have put a longish word in a sentence, replace it with a shorter one.
Be visual
Give your readers a chance to imagine the people, places and things in your story. Create a sense of scene; describe people; include interesting sounds. Avoid a story that’s just a series of talking heads or facts.
Be concise.
Long sentences loaded with big words and relative clauses usually don’t work too well. You want to be short and sweet. Mix up your sentence structure. Don’t overwrite.
Be energetic.
Use the active voice. Use punchy verbs and contractions. Mind your tenses – don’t switch back and forth between past and present.
Be thoughtful.
Try to go beyond just presenting the facts. Let your readers know why your story matters. Is there a lesson to be learned, something to be taken away? You don’t have to get too heavy or cerebral- just take it a step or two beyond pure description.
Final Food For Thought
Don’t nitpick every word. Instead, spend time revising your work, paying particular attention to these pitfalls:
- Clichés – frequently they are saying something that’s completely contrary to the point you’re trying to make. And just generally, they’re bad bad bad.
- The verb “to be.” It was, they were… What do you mean by that? Show it don’t say it. Show the picture. Give a sense of what it’s like. Make people think about it. Not a litany of facts.
- And or but in the middle of a sentence.
- Two people of one gender in the same sentence, it makes the pronouns confusing.
- A long phrase at the beginning of the sentence. For example: With the sun shining in her face and insects attacking her legs, the survivor contestant started crying.
