Veni, vidi, vici – I came, I saw, I conquered – said the ancient Romans.
Veni, vidi, scripsi – I came, I saw, I wrote – is what we say, as we invite you to learn how to write like a journalist.
Yes, it’s possible – if you know the basic rules and techniques that journalists use.
In this session, we’ll help you learn to write news stories the way real reporters do.
It might even make your public posts and personal stories more engaging and better structured.
Let’s get started!
The Six Pillars of a News Story
If you take a close look at any well-written news article, you’ll notice that all news stories are built around five – and sometimes six – key questions. Here they are:
What? – the event or subject (what happened?)
Who? – the people involved
When? – the time or date of the event
Where? – the location where it took place
How? – the way or method it happened
Why? – the reasons or motives behind it
Five of these questions are essential, while the “Why?” is sometimes optional. That’s because we don’t always know the reason for an event right away – and news needs to be reported quickly! The answer to this question can often be added later when more information becomes available.
Answering these questions helps make your news story complete and easy to understand.
And if you want to write strong public posts or updates, it’s good practice to check whether you’ve answered them all, too.
What do you know about pyramids?
When you hear the word pyramid, you probably think of the ancient pyramids of Egypt or geometric shapes.
But in journalism, the word pyramid has a very specific meaning – and every journalist knows what the Inverted Pyramid is and why it matters.
Let’s explore it together!
What is the “Inverted Pyramid” technique?
The Inverted Pyramid is a classic structure for writing news stories.
Imagine a regular pyramid — wide at the bottom and narrow at the top.
Now flip it upside down. That’s how a journalist structures a news article.
Here’s how it works:
- Top (the very beginning of the article):
The most important information comes first.
The key questions are answered right away:
What happened? Where? When? Who was involved?
This helps the reader quickly understand the core of the story.
- Middle:
Additional details that help explain the event more clearly —
quotes, facts, background, and context.
- Bottom:
The least important information — general background or extra context.
Why use this structure?
Because many people don’t read articles to the end.
If the most important information is placed at the top, the reader still gets the main message — even if they stop reading after a few lines.
It’s like telling a joke backwards: you start with the punchline, and then explain how you got there.
This technique helps journalists be clear, fast, and effective.
Summary
In this lesson, we learned how to write news stories like journalists.
Let’s check how well you’ve understood the material!
To do that, try this simple exercise:
Read the sentences below and then arrange them in the correct order, following the Inverted Pyramid principle.
The most important sentence should be number 1, then number 2, and so on.
You can check your answers by clicking the icon in the bottom right corner of the activity box.
Good luck!
