This repo contains recipes for creating different types of stories.
News formats lead on verbs, e.g. something that has been done or said. Story ideas can be found in problems ("concerns raised"), new information ("report says"), events and interviews ("X says Y") and responses ("X defends Y"). News stories are generally short and time-sensitive: that is, they are only newsworthy for a limited period of time and then become 'old news'.
- How to: write a news story based on a panel event
- How to: write a news story based on new data
- How to write: a NIB for a forthcoming council meeting
- How to write: a NIB for a company's accounts
- How to write: a news story based on a blog post/statement
- Reaction stories
- 'Concerns raised'
- 'New report says'
Feature formats tend to be longer and less time-sensitive than news stories - but they typically follow a news story and have a topical hook (a reason why they're being written now). An explainer is normally writte about a subject because it's in the news at the moment, for example, and a person might be interviewed because they have a connection to something newsworthy (their experience or expertise connects to it, for example).
- How to do... an interview feature
- How to write: a multi-interview feature (incomplete)
- How to write: explainers ('Everything you need to know about...')
- How to write: question-based features
- How to: write a 'day in the life' interview feature
- How to edit a 'first person account'
- How to write a 'tour of' feature
- 'How to' story
- 'Here are...' story
- How to write a listicle
- How to write a trend feature
- How to write an 'in numbers' feature
- How to write a news feature
- How to write a 'story behind' article
- How to write a colour piece, or 'sketch'
- How to write a 'trying it out' feature based on an activity which is newly popular or topical
- How to write a 'mapped' or 'explore' story
- How to write a 'vox pop feature'
Investigations can involve a number of stories - both news formats and feature formats.