GOLDEN RULE: Simplify and Exaggerate. When writing for a large audience you should make it as accessible as possible and dramatic.
Keep it simple. Not everyone will know your system or the language names used in your style.
Saying “You do gyakuzuki then junzuki followed by a maegeri…” might as well be Martian if you follow a Chinese system for instance…
But the majority of martial artists will know a reverse punch (gyakuzuki), a lunge punch (junzuki) and front kick (maegeri).
So it’s best when describing techniques or principles to explain in English.
Journalists are always taught: “Could Granny understand that…?”. If Granny wouldn’t understand other readers won’t either. They will stop reading.
Exaggerate the event with dramatic active words and get a HUMAN interest angle into intros (The beginning sentence).
So, for instance:
POLICE are hunting an arsonist after a family were rescued from a blazing house...
Is better than..
POLICE are looking for a man after family escaped a house fire.
So…KUBATAI Kickboxers powered their way through their opposition to hoist the Northern Kickboxing League’s Champion Trophy.
Is better than…
THE Kubatai Kickboxing Club won the Northern Kickboxing League.
Don’t over do it though! Strong, descriptive words should be used sparingly for more effect.
THE kickass Kubatai Kickboxing Club blasted and exploded through their fearsome opponents to snatch and hoist the coveted North Kickboxing League’s awesome, gold and silver Champion Trophy…
Phew! Talk about over egging the pudding! Read it aloud and then read aloud the first intro on the Kubatai...which was easier to read and say?
So does exaggerating mean you are lying? No—you’re dramatising the event to hook the reader in.
And you do this by writing it hard and sharp using strong descriptive words sparingly but for effect.
If it flows it reads well people will read it effortlessly. If they have to work out what’s going on they’ll abandon it almost immediately.
CHECK!: Always check the spelling of people’s names and other personal details such as their age.
There’s nothing worse than being called Nobby, 82, a shop assistant, of Anick if your name is Noddy, 28, a shop manager, of Alnwick!
Always check the spelling of names; grades; styles and systems and associations etc etc.  People can get upset if their name or something they are proud of keeps getting spelt incorrectly.
SUBBED: Does that all sound daunting? Actually it’s a formula you will see in every newspaper in the UK. It's the stories that change.
Do not worry about grammar or spelling—because all copy will be sub-edited before it goes on line.
We’ll correct any grammar, punctuation or spelling mistakes for you.
KEEP IT AT 350 WORDS: This is the maximum number of words you should have in a news story. Any longer and its feature!
Sounds a lot? Once you start writing you’ll discover its not enough!
The best writing is kept short deliberately so no word is wasted.
Once you have written your story you need to go through it at least twice and cut or re-write sentences until they are shorter than before.
Remember—you want to entice the readers to read until the story end. The easier you make this, and the tighter you make the story by cutting out words, the more likely they will!
Cut words such as THAT and JUST and other words which just pad out sentences.
Read the sentence and look for words you could cut without losing the meaning, or grammatical sense of the sentence.
IF YOU GET STUCK: Known as writer’s block, sometimes words don’t come easily.
Cheat! Go on to the Martial News website, find a story in the archive similar to yours and use it as a template. This how junior reporters learn.
Once you start copying the story you’ll find you’ve smashed through the block and you will write your own story, using the other article as a guide.
Is that ethical? Yes because all news stories are written to a formula, the same one.
Your story will be different because its about different clubs, events etc. You are just copying the formula not the original story itself.
Also, all submitted material automatically becomes the copyright property of DFM Martial News and publishing, which is part of DFM Self-protection Ltd.
Stories may be forwarded to ncjMedia and placed within their news outlets.
You have permission to use our stories as templates for your submissions to Martial News.