Lee Hood, University of Colorado
ü Write in active voice, using present (is happening), present perfect (has happened), and future tenses as much as possible.
ü Write in short, declarative sentenced. Avoid interior clauses and phrases and parentheticals. The one-breath rule!
ü Avoid long, introductory phrases (don't use more than four words):
E.g., Although the Buffs haven't won on the road in the past three seasons, they almost won Saturday night.
Better: The Buffs haven't won on the road in three years, but they almost won Saturday night.
ü Use contractions most of the time. People talk in contractions. Use the longer version only for emphasis. (One that can be a problem -- can vs. can't, especially if a "t" word comes after it. Often, cannot is better.)
ü Use say or says instead of said. If they said it, it's reasonable to think they still believe it. Exception: If it's linked to a specific event (e.g., "The governor said at a news conference…")
ü Use yesterday and tomorrow instead of their days of the week (unless the outlet where you're working has a different style).
ü Write out one through eleven. Use numerals for 12-999. Higher than 999, use a combination of words and numerals. E.g., 15-thousand, not 15,000.
ü Round off numbers when the exact number is not important. E.g., the population of Boulder is about 105- thousand people, not 105,321.
ü When comparing different numbers, do the math for the listener rather than giving raw numbers.
ü Spell out figures. E.g., the budget is 15 thousand dollars, not $15,000.
ü Leave out ages and addresses if they aren't important to the story.
ü Attribution needs to go before what the person said. Otherwise, it sounds like you're saying it.
ü Titles go before names. E.g., Boulder County Sheriff George Epp – not George Epp, Boulder County Sheriff. Sometimes, we will use the title without the name.
ü Usually, paraphrase rather than using direct quotes.