Dear Grandma Iris/Uncle BorisWriting for the general public

Is it news? Give it the sniff test.What’s happening?

Who cares?

What sells papers?Stories about things people can relate to in their

own lives. Stories about things that will change the world

in a very real way.Stories about things that are just

downright cool.

Cute animals sell papers!

Building a news story, from the top down

Warning: This is crash course. Hold on tight.

Putting pen to paper

The dirty little secret about good writing:

It’s just like talking.

“When you write, leave out all the parts readers skip.”

- Elmore Leonard

Never say this…

“To facilitate the navigability of our website, we have chosen to use this more intuitive terminology.”

When you mean this…

“Simple language makes our website easier to use.”

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo da Vinci

BUT simplifying DOES NOT mean

dumbing down

Either/orapproximately

enumeratemethodology

numerousobjective

requirementsufficient

utilize

Vary the length of sentences and paragraphs. Vary the length of sentences and paragraphs. Vary the length of sentences and paragraphs. Vary the length of sentences and paragraphs. Vary the length of sentences and paragraphs. Vary the length of sentences and paragraphs. Vary the length of sentences and paragraphs. Vary the length of sentences and paragraphs. Vary the length of sentences and paragraphs. Vary the length of sentences and paragraphs. Vary the length of sentences and paragraphs.

Your ‘other’ best friend

“As it enters the ear, does it come in like

broken glass or does it come in like

honey?”- Eddie Condon

Wage War! On OVer CapitaliZation and

on; unnecessary” punctuation...

“Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the

people.” William Butler Yeats

On, and on, and on …“Created to foster a broad array of interdisciplinary research, education and engagement activities aimed at understanding critical issues of crime and justice, and examining the criminal justice and Corrections Systems in Canada and elsewhere in relation to the offender populations, victims and public they are intended to serve, the Centre will serve to showcase existing campus expertise and provide a gateway to information, knowledge and enquiry across the broad domains of crime, justice and Corrections.”