So, you want to be a sports news writer. You want to present
what happened in the basketball game, offer a definitive roundup of the World
Cup finals, or feature the highlights of the latest college football match of
your team. But how can you create your sports report like a pro? Here are some
tips and advice from sports writer Dayanna Volitich when starting out in this field.
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| Image source: pixabay.com |
Introduce the sports event properly
Create a lead that presents the most important news aspect
of sports game. What’s the score, and who won? What effect did the victory
have? Provide the context for the whole report in the first paragraph and
follow it up with the important supporting information about the event.
Provide quotes
Provide a quote from a coach, key player, or key figure in
the story whether as a stand-alone or with a lead-in paragraph. The quote
should be able to capture a sentiment on the story angle, a revelation, a
recollection, or something that builds up the action. Dayanna Volitich also cautions that you double-check the accuracy
of the quote as it’s directly attributed to the person.
Include supporting details
Once the main details of the story and the quotes are out of
the way, work next on describing the game or event, providing further details
that would offer more reading value. Write in a way that makes the reader feel,
taste, and sense the action – without sacrificing facts, accuracy, and
objectivity.
Read good examples of sports writing
Enrich your knowledge and build your potential by looking up
examples of great sports writing, may it be straight news reports, sports
biographies, or sports features. It will help sharpen your skills, know-how,
and thought process in angling stories and presenting them in the most useful
way possible to your audience.
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| Image source: pixabay.com |
Dayanna Volitich is a college freshman at Fresno State
University taking up English with focus on Creative Writing. Her goal is
actually to become a sports writer in the future. Learn more on this page.
