Writing the Service Article

Learn from the Information-Rich and Write for the Information-Poor

The service article is one of the most valuable forms of writing today. Such an article provides readers with knowledge they can make use of to improve their lives.

After reading a service article, readers are empowered to know how to:

• understand something better,
• decide whether it applies to them, and, if it does,
• start taking action on it.

Here is a helpful guide for planning and writing a service article — in this example, a hypothetical article on depression.

Opening Anecdote

Show someone who has the problem — depression. Show this in a way that raises the key topics the article will address.

Example:

Malinda could not understand why her friends had all become so obnoxious. They always said something, or did something, that grated against her to the point that it often threw her into a rage. The worst rages came when someone tried to be so nice, so solicitous, so concerned, that it just made Malinda mad. Her friends worried about her, but approaching Malinda was like touching a live wire. Almost friendless, Malinda withdrew alone and stewed with resentment — except when she curled up for hours and cried.

When you use an indirect opening like this one, keep it short and focused on the topic.

Don’t begin with something like “Websters defines ‘depression’ as…” And don’t be too indirect! Do not start out with how Malinda woke up, what she had for breakfast, how she chose what to wear, what the weather was like, etc., etc., before finally getting to the topic of the article. — Show the topic to your readers right away, as if they are watching the opening of a documentary that shows a person with the problem it will explore.

Justifier

(Billboard, Nut Graf, Theme Statement)

The paragraph that follows the opening is one of the most important parts of your article. It is the justifier — also known as the billboard, nut graf, or theme statement.

After the opening, construct a solid, helpful justifier where you:

1. Clearly state the topic of the article.
2. Tell how big it is, how important, how many people are affected, and, if appropriate, how much money is being spent or lost on it.
3. Cite an important national authority to signal to readers that you have done your homework and that the facts in the article can be trusted.
4. State exactly what this article will cover, in a mini-outline that lists the topics that will become the subheads of the body of the article, topic by topic, in order.

Example of a justifier that contains all four elements:

Malinda’s outbursts of rage turned out to be symptoms of a depression so deep she did not know she was depressed. She is one of XX,XXX women who, according to the National Council on ZZ, seek treatment for depression each year, in addition to an estimated XX,XXX others who suffer in silence. The Federal YY Board estimates that the walking depressed — those who do not know they are depressed — cost the country $X billion each year in hours lost from work, plus the unmeasured damage to home life. Like many others, Malinda delayed seeking help because she did not recognize that her outbursts were symptoms of depression.

This article will summarize what experts currently know about what depression is, what causes it, how to tell if you are depressed, what treatments are available, what you can do to help yourself, and what you can do to help a friend or family member who is depressed.

Notice that, without the justifier, you can’t be quite sure what the article is about. Is it about anger? Friendships? Loneliness? How to talk to someone who is in a rage? The need for more sleep? Some kind of addiction?

The justifier specifies, clearly, the subject of the article, why this subject matters, and what the article will cover.

Beginning writers often omit the justifier, because, after all, the subject of the article is already clear to them. The justifier makes that clear to the readers.

Body

The body of the article picks up on the last sentence of the justifier and presents an orderly series of sections, each of which is highlighted by a bold subhead that comes directly from the justifier. If you scan down the article, you will see bold subheads derived from the list you just read in the last sentence of the justifier, such as:

• What is depression?
• What causes depression?
• How to tell if you are depressed. (This could be a sidebar or questionnaire.)
• Treatments for depression.
• How you can help yourself.
• How to help someone who is depressed. (This could be a sidebar.)

(A sidebar is a section of text set apart by being in a box, off to the side, in a different font, or the like. Sidebars are a standard part of magazine layout.)

Editors may change the wording of your bold subheads, delete some, or add others. Most editors know what they are doing. Just let them do their jobs.

Think of the body of a service article this way:

• learn the subject,
• teach it to your readers.

Your job is to help readers learn something in 10 minutes that took you 10 hours, or two weeks, or two months to learn. You are a Robin Hood writer: You learn from the information-rich and write for the information-poor. It’s a magical economy: No one loses; everyone gains.

In order to write the body of a service article, you have to understand the material. That means you have to do a substantial amount of background reading, thinking, and learning of your own. Use enough background sources to give you a grasp of the topic, but no fewer than three well chosen, nationally reputable sources. If you are writing a serious piece, include one major book that gives an overview of the topic and one recent scholarly article that critiques and updates that book.

Quote or paraphrase the written sources in your article and identify them fully as sources. Give readers enough information that they can find these sources for themselves, if they want to — especially if those sources are available online.

Supplement your learning by interviewing and quoting authorities who have credentials that make them believable experts in this area. The best interviews are face-to-face, but you can do well on the phone, or in a well-thought-out email exchange.

Use only quotes in which an expert says something better than you can, and only quotes that are perfectly clear. Use enough expert sources to establish to readers that your article has real credibility. But do not use fewer than three well chosen, credible experts whose quotes advance the article in a precise and meaningful way.

Identify each expert fully, emphasizing how their credentials relate to the topic of the article. Use only highly credible people. You are asking readers to believe you, so this is not a time to seek Man On The Street reactions, or to quote your roommate.

The body will likely contain anecdotes from other people whose stories illustrate that section. The person in the opening anecdote may return in the body — but this one person should not be your only example.

Write enough — but be brief and to the point. It’s hard to strike the right balance, and an editor can sometimes help with that. Many articles would be twice as good if they were half as long. Don’t write another one like that.

Writing the service article gives you the opportunity to make a difference in the world. Readers may make life-changing decisions on the basis of what they read in your article. You have a profound responsibility to your readers to make this information correct, complete, and useful.

They will thank you for doing that.

Ending

Unless you have a compelling reason to do otherwise, circle back to your opening. Return to the person who had the problem. Tell us how that problem was solved, or at least how her example leaves us with some new direction.

After consulting with her doctor and a specialist, Malinda chose not to start antidepressants but to try a behavioral training method — and she reports that the results have been good. She may never be completely cured, but she is learning to live better with the condition she has. She is learning to recognize when she uses anger to hide from depression, how to change the habits of thought that lead to depression, and, when need be, how to use meditation to dwell with her depression and try to learn what it has to teach her. Her friends say that she looks so much better, and they can talk to her again.

Sidebars and Supplements

Make your article useful to your readers. Breaking information out into sidebars, questionnaires, sub-articles, infographics, bullet lists, and the like can be a valuable way to help readers assimilate complex material and make use of it. Provide that help.

If you have not already done so, after the article’s ending, place a box identifying additional resources, books, articles, organizations, places to go for additional information or help, or a place you can volunteer to give help, under a heading like Where to Go from Here — or What to Do if You are Depressed — or How to Help a Friend who is Depressed.

Using this Guide

Treat this guide like a template, a framework, a working outline — not like a set of rigid requirements. Where your idea fits this format, use it to organize your research and writing. And where your idea takes off in a different direction, go that way.

Remember that the objective is not for you to write an article, but for readers to learn something that improves their lives. Your job is to help them do that.

Gerald Grow is a retired journalism professor. More at longleaf.net.