Once you have conducted your interview and gotten any other information you may need to write your article, begin on the rough draft stage.
To start writing your rough draft, always remember to make the article’s information going from most important to least important.
Some of the most important pieces of information include, what this article is about- just a brief overview of what you will be covering. Also include any dates, locations, or names to set the stage for the reader. This first paragraph should encompass the main topics and a basic level knowledge, a reader should be able to read the first paragraph and know the most important parts of the article.
The rest of the article should be giving more detail and information on the main topic and just be giving more detail.
The paragraphs should be fairly short, with three sentences being a good base number to start. This makes the article seem less intimidating to the reader.
Use as many direct quotes as you can, this shows that you are reliable and your content can be trusted. When quoting someone multiple times, use their full name the first time, and then refer to them as only their last name. Also when saying who said the quote, say, said their name, after the quote.
Another way to enhance your writing in quotes is to use brackets in quotes to make the quote smoother and to put it in context.
The article doesn’t have to be long, and tends to make more sense and is better when shorter! This keeps it short and concise and right to the point, although if you have a lot of information that is very important to the story then include it all.
A good way to end your article is a quote, a good time to find these quotes is when you ask, “Is there anything else you would like to add?” The source tends to wrap up what they have said thus far, which makes for a good ending.
What are your tips for writing a rough draft?
Stay tuned, next I will be talking about how to write your final draft!
Also, check out my article about College Advice from Former Students, which is a good example of taking your information to formulate it into an article!
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