Better writing: The inverted pyramid
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Newspaper journalists are taught to write using the inverted pyramid structure.
It isn’t always appropriate, but the inverted pyramid has worked well for news stories since the days reporters telegraphed their dispatches to their editors. Today it works well for online writing.
The structure is similar to the classic essay structure you were taught — or should have been taught — at school.
Its most basic format goes something like this:
- Introduction — say what the piece is about; Answer questions like who, what, where and when. You can also explain why at this point, although that can wait until later.
- Then — expand, amplify;
- Keep doing this until you’ve told the whole story. Make the most important points first then add more and more detail in each additional paragraph.
Traditional newspaper editors often cut a story from the bottom if it needs to fill a specific space on a printed page. The inverted pyramid structure, with each paragraph being progressively less important, means editors remove the least crucial information first.
In principle, a news story written using the inverted pyramid structure can be cut at the end of any paragraph, even the first paragraph, and still be a self-contained story. In the online world this means search engines pay more attention to the most important words – which helps people find your writing. Those opening paragraphs also make neat summaries for listings and similar online uses.
So, to recap, the most important information goes in the first paragraph and each extra paragraph of subsidiary information carries progressively less weight. That’s where the inverted pyramid name comes from: the foundation sits at the top, the less important details are at the bottom.
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