Say What?
If you’re telling a story, you can use two journalism training mnemonics to check that you have covered all the bases. These are the 6Ws and the WHAT formula.
Journalism tutors use the 6Ws to help students remember the main elements of writing a news story, but they work for any story. Here’s how to use them. Imagine you have seen a car crash on the way to work one morning. You want to tell your colleagues about it. The 6Ws are what you would relate:
Who was involved?
What happened?
Where did it happen?
Why did it happen?
When did it happen?
How did it happen?
Giving these details gives you the bones of the story, and you can use them to write a lead which will hook the reader.
Once you have done that, use the WHAT formula to finish up your story.
What happened?
How did it happen?
Amplify the introduction – this means expand on the points you made at the start.
Tie up any loose ends, so that your story answers readers’ questions.
These formulas are the basis for every good news story – and a lot of tall tales as well.
Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily!
Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:
- 85 Synonyms for “Help”
- Capitalization Rules for Names of Historical Periods and Movements
- 45 Idioms About the Number One
Stop making those embarrassing mistakes! Subscribe to Daily Writing Tips today!

- You will improve your English in only 5 minutes per day, guaranteed!
- Subscribers get access to our archives with 800+ interactive exercises!
- You'll also get three bonus ebooks completely free!
5 Responses to “Say What?”
-
Jay Wagers
Don’t forget the Three P’s.
Proofread, Proofread, and Proofread.
Check “amplfy.”;-) -
Sharon
Got me on that one, Jay. You wouldn’t believe how many times I checked that. Maybe it’s time for me to do a post on proofreading tips 🙂
-
Heartmates
Thanks for the writing tip. At times i hace a lack of ideas to write, i think your tips will help to get rid of the problem.
-
MarioTheMusiclover
Hi all!
I ve found this music portal. Wow. The prices there are very cheap and they have really big collection of mp3 music. Try, see by yourself
legal mp3 music download -
PreciseEdit
This is also good advice for short story writers, though the order for the 6 “Ws” may be a bit different.
Leave a comment: