After the go-ahead
By
Bernice Curler
You’ve got a go-ahead
from an editor. Now, how do you write the article?
The article types
Basically there are only
three distinct types, or article styles: everything else either fits into these
categories or is a mixture of them.
Narrative. The “you tell” style. The writer himself simply
tells the story to the reader. This can be done in first, second or third person. An example of this type is the “how-to”, in which you simply instruct
the reader.
Example:
One hundred
and fifty-one years ago this spring, a rugged new state became the 23rd to join the American Republic. From the beginning, indeed, from
the days when Maine was
first settled in the early 1600s, her hardy people have been intent on proving that they were a special breed fully capable
of running their own show.
Article
sub-types that use this style are:
How to-do-it
article
The self-improvement
article
The YOU
article
The think
piece
The historical
article
The travel
article
The adventure
article
The
Sandwich style: An
easy one to do that makes you an instant professional. You tell it, then you
let the person you interviewed tell it, then you tell it, etc., all the way down through the article.
Example:
George (Goober) Lindsey isn’t kidding anybody. (Writer, tells it)
He never expects to become a matinee idol.
(Interviewee tells it) “With my face, I’m
not about to play a hero role,” says the ingenuous grease monkey of Mayberry RFD.
(Writer tells it) But put George Lindsey behind
the wheel of the houseboat on the Sacramento River Delta and he’s as cool as any skipper who ever trod the bridge in
a Hollywood sea thriller.
There are many variations of this. The essential thing is that basically the person being interviewed tells the story.
Nearly all trade journal dealer articles use
this style, also many interview articles, the personality profile, the success story and often the inspiration article.
The general article style: This, primarily, is a “show-style”.
You prove what you say is true by showing your reader examples with anecdotes, quotes and statistics.
Example:
The IRS system encourages
employees to victimize citizens least able and likely to defend themselves. (The statement)
“It is easier,”
declares an IRS agent, “to squeeze production out of a little taxpayer who cannot afford a lawyer or even time off from
work to contest an arbitrary IRS claim. (You prove the statement with quotes)
After her husband deserted
her in 1965 Carmen Ramos tried to support herself by working as a maid in McAllen, Texas. Because of ill health she was able
to earn only $580 in 1966, so little, that she did not even file a tax return. However,
after her absent husband failed to pay the tax due on all his income, the IRS summoned Mrs. Ramos. It demanded that she submit a return reporting half of her husband’s income and pay taxes on it,
even though he had contributed nothing whatsoever to her support. (You prove
the statement with an example)
Outraged, the Hidalgo County
Legal Aid Society filed a suit against the IRS. “Vicious and unconscionable,”
asserted attorney, Joseph L. Namus, who volunteered to represent Mrs. Ramos.
This type is represented
by the informational article and others. All types can be mixed, or one particular
type can have parts of the other two.
How do you know which style
to use? You let the magazine tell you. Count the different types in the magazine
then use the style that seems to fit best.
