An intro to ‘intros’ (Part 1) — the ABC WWWWWH of news writing

News writing isn’t just the sole preserve of journalists — it’s a technique that is invaluable to B2B content producers. In fact, I would go further and say that it’s almost impossible to write effectively without this technique in your armoury. Whether you’re using it to create a brief — or as a template for a finished piece of writing — news writing puts readers front and centre. After all, editorial content — blogs, reports, brochures etc. — is meaningless unless it’s read. At first, getting to grips with news writing can seem a bit like trying to juggle six balls when you can barely catch one. It can be tricky to begin with, with words and phrases popping out all over the place. But once you start to practise, things will start to fall into place and become easier.To write in the news style you need to memorise six words. Together, they will help you analyse and assess any story so you can work out what’s important and what’s not. And although I use the word ‘story’ throughout, it should be regarded as an umbrella term for any piece of written content.These six words are: who, what, why, where, when, and how (WWWWWH).Who: Who is this story about? Who are the people that we need to focus on? The ‘who’ can refer to things and objects as well as people. For instance, it could be a company, a retailer, an event, a gadget, a government department, a local authority or a charity, as well as a person. The important thing to remember is that ‘who’ refers to the main subject of the story.What: What is the story about? What has happened? What is happening? What is about to happen? They’re simple questions but sometimes answering them can be really tricky. To make matters worse, sometimes there is more than one ‘what’, depending on how you prioritise things.Why: Why is this story important? Why is it happening? Why is it interesting?Where: Where is it taking place? Nearby? In the next town? Overseas? On the moon?When: When is it taking place? Today? Tomorrow? Next week? Or has it already happened?Most people are content with just using WWWWW but sometimes it is good to use how as well.How: How is it — whatever ‘it’ is — happening? Sometimes, getting this right can be tricky. In fact, it may be that whatever you’re about to write on has no how. That’s fine; not every story has to have a how.Having this list of words — WWWWWH — to hand provides a framework to help you assess what’s important…and what’s not. Together, they will help you get to the root of any story. Handily, they are also the elements that make up a written news-style introduction or intro. For reasons we will discuss elsewhere, your intro is arguably the most important thing you will write. Get it right and the rest will follow.

News writing deconstructed

The easiest way to see WWWWWH in action is to apply it to an actual intro. Here is the background to a story, which will later have the headline “Say ‘cheers!’ to new plastic wine bottles”:

• A UK-based chain of shops called The Green Wine Co-Op has decided to sell a range of its wines in plastic bottles instead of glass ones.
• As part of the project, The Green Wine Co-Op has been working in partnership with a US firm that specialises in the distribution of liquid goods. The reason behind the move is that plastic bottles are cheaper and more eco-friendly to produce than glass ones, and the lighter bottles are cheaper to transport. 
• Once used, the plastic wine bottles are cheaper and easier to recycle. This means that over the lifetime of the product, using plastic instead of glass helps cut carbon emissions.
• The company is keen to point out that these plastic bottles do not alter the taste of the wine.

By using WWWWWH methodically, we can start to build our news-style intro:Who: Who is this story about? Note that the ‘who’ here isn’t a person but a ‘thing’, in this case a retailer.The Green Wine Co-OpWhat: What is the story about? What is important?They’re introducing plastic wine bottlesWhy: Why is this story important? Why is it happening?To cut carbon emissionsWhere: Where is it taking place?The UKWhen: When is it taking place?NowHow: How is it happening?By teaming up with a US company that specialises in liquid distribution.Now that we have our information, it’s time to start putting it all together. In this case, each element is being added one at a time. But as you can see, there is no specific order we need to follow. Indeed, as it becomes more complex it may be necessary to change the order of the WWWWWH so that it makes sense.The Green Wine Co-Op (Who)The Green Wine Co-Op has launched a plastic wine bottle. (Who, what)The Green Wine Co-Op has launched a plastic wine bottle, which it claims could help cut its carbon footprint. (Who, what, why)The Green Wine Co-Op has today launched a plastic wine bottle, which it claims could help cut its carbon footprint. (Who, when, what, why)Thanks to the help of a specialised US company, The Green Wine Co-Op has today launched a plastic wine bottle, which it claims could help cut its carbon footprint. (How, who, when, what, why)The Green Wine Co-Op announced today that it has teamed up with a US company to launch a plastic wine bottle in the UK, which it claims could help cut its carbon footprint. (Who, when, how, what, where, why)By deconstructing news writing in this way it’s much easier to pick out the different elements that make up the intro. And as you can see from the examples above, there is no set order for the WWWWWH. It’s up to you — as the writer — to decide what order they should be put in.Crucially, though, it’s turned four extended bullet points — and 130 words — into a single sentence of just 30-odd words. This isn’t just cutting words. This is the distillation of ‘the story’ down to its elemental parts. And it’s comms magic.