Just some little things to think about from your classmate profiles. Some of these may or may not be set in stone, but I can promise that following these rules will make your stories look more professional to journalists.

• Always remember a headline and a byline.
• Don’t ever use a colon in your byline. “By Welch Suggs,” not “By: Welch Suggs.”
• “Said,” not “stated” or “mentioned” or “laughed.”
• Think about which words need to be capitalized (proper nouns) and which don’t. Be very judicious in your use of caps. Classes, degrees, and “the” are virtually never capitalized.
• Think very carefully about adjectives and whether you need them. Be more descriptive in your nouns and verbs.
• Always get and verify details–names, building floors, other specific facts. As Roy Peter Clark puts it, always get the name of the dog.