On the web, write like a journalist

The forms and tropes of traditional news writing might have been made for the internet. ¶ 

In a way, they were. ¶  When I teach newbies about writing for the web, I tell them about leads and the inverted pyramid.

When I teach newbies about writing for the web, I tell them about leads and the inverted pyramid.

I boggle minds (sometimes) with notions like one-sentence paragraphs.

Short ones.

These conventions are perfect for the distracted world of the web.

They respect the short attention spans of your multitasking readers, and put your message first.

Secrets of the Pyramid

The so-called inverted pyramid is the metaphor that says, put your news up front, and organize your report by priority rather than chronology.

A good lead (sometimes spelled "lede" and always pronounced that way) begins the story in a way that both draws readers in and tells them where they are going.

John McPhee says, “The lead—like the title—should be a flashlight that shines down into the story."

Q: Did the lead of this blog post give you fair warning about what I had to say?

Meanwhile, one-sentence paragraphs organize your message into digestible chunks.

Master the form

Good leads are hard!

But get them right and the rest will flow.

My journalism professor used to say, "A story well begun is half done."

Also, try this on your next draft blog post, web page, or e-newsletter.

Once you have written it, go back and put a paragraph return after every sentence.

Take a breath, and review.

If the result feels off, go ahead and reunite some of the paragraphs. I do sometimes.

You may nonetheless find that your story reads better without so many dense blocks of text.

There's a reason why the AP style book calls for one-sentence paragraphs.

It's all about respect for your audience.

Built for internet?

The inverted-pyramid style emerged when the first internet—the telegraph—disrupted journalism in the 19th century.

If the wire went dead in mid story, the gist of the news still got through.

Editors could pull stories off the wires and send them directly to the composition department.

If a full story did not fit on the page, they could just hack off the end, leaving the most important part intact.

It's not too different from what readers do, when they stop reading a story because they have learned as much as they want.

If you have read this far, I am flattered.

Notes

Re "flashlight": McPhee, John. 2017. Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process. Farrar, Straus and Giroux (50).

MacPhee also says (49), "Writing a sucessful lead...can illuminate the structure problem for you."

For a more-nuanced account of the impact of the telegraph and the rise of the inverted pyramid: Scanlon, Chip. 2003. "Birth of the Inverted Pyramid: A Child of Technology, Commerce and History." Poynter Institute.

Poynter is a great resource for journalists, and for other writers interested in the form.

The above "inverted pyramid" diagram is in the public domain.