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10 tips for writing a catchy story

1. Build your story around a person or people.

2. Let your story tell one big thing.

3. However, you need related facts, dates, numbers.

4. Get a high-quality photo. If you don’t have one, hire a professional to take pictures for you.

5. Think of your story as the caption to the great photo.

6. Use short paragraphs.

7. Begin sentences with strong and specific nouns (not “There are…” or “The reason is because” but rather “AAI was able, on the basis of extensive research, to create a kind of balance sheet that showed what respondents considered assets and deficits”).

8. Put action into your account by using strong acting verbs (traveled, built, painted, ran, etc.). Rebuild sentences that are over-reliant on these verbs: is, are, was, were, has, have, had. They don’t act.

9. Bring in quotes — just the way people talk.

10. Ask a trusted colleague to proofread what you wrote.