[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":3,"doc-seo-349577-105":53,"doc-detail-349577-en":126},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,14,19,24,29,34,39,44,49],{"id":8,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":11,"show_sort_weight":12,"slug":13},11,1,"Template","Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":15,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":16,"show_sort_weight":17,"slug":18},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":20,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":21,"show_sort_weight":22,"slug":23},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":25,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":26,"show_sort_weight":27,"slug":28},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":30,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":31,"show_sort_weight":32,"slug":33},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":35,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":36,"show_sort_weight":37,"slug":38},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":40,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":41,"show_sort_weight":42,"slug":43},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":45,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":46,"show_sort_weight":47,"slug":48},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":50,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":51,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":52},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":54,"data":55},"ok",{"site_id":56,"language":57,"slug":58,"title":59,"keywords":60,"description":61,"schema_data":62,"social_meta":119,"head_meta":121,"extra_data":123,"updated_unix":125},105,"en","how-to-write-a-strong-story-proposal-tipsheet","How to Write a Strong Story Proposal - tipsheet","","A guide for pitching story ideas to editors quickly and effectively. It emphasizes brevity, directness, and clear scanning by editors, recommending a four-paragraph structure: what the story is, why it matters now, what findings or access you have, and why you are the right author. The advice covers crafting concise “elevator pitch” opening lines, adding a significance peg to connect to larger trends, balancing disclosure with protection of sources, and ensuring the pitch is easy to read by sending it both in the email body and as an attachment, plus proper follow-up.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":41,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/letters/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/how-to-write-a-strong-story-proposal-tipsheet/349577/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/how-to-write-a-strong-story-proposal-tipsheet/349577.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Kurz","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-07","2026-09-22",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":47},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"How long should a strong story proposal be?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"Most editors have no time, so pitches should be anywhere from one paragraph to about 1,000 words. A common target is around 500 words.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What four paragraphs should a story proposal include?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"A strong pitch typically includes: (a) what the story is, (b) why it matters and why it matters now, (c) what findings you have, and (d) why you are the right person to write it.",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How should you handle investigative findings without giving too much away?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"Provide enough detail to show the kind of work you have—such as an exclusive source category, specific access, or summarized data—but avoid sharing the full identity of sources or all underlying details. Consulting an Investigative Fund editor can help protect your work.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},349577,1791222710,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":40,"category_name":41,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":47,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":73,"language":135,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":136,"faqs":137,"seo_title":138,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":139,"read_time":9},2336478945635,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","HOW TO WRITE A STRONG STORY PROPOSAL  \n—Sarah Blustain, deputy editor, The Investigative Fund  \nKeep it short because most editors have no time.  \nOnce, I got a pitch from a writer that was 4,000 words. I asked her to cut it to two pages. She did. Then she sent a version to a magazine editor that was 3,000 words. He asked her to send a paragraph so he could sell it to his boss. The point being that in most cases you should actually send somewhere between one paragraph and 1,000 words. My target is usually 500 words.  \nBe direct because most editors have no time.  \nEditors are scanning pitches for a few things, and they want to be able to find them quickly. Your writing should be good, but they don’t want your most poetic language, all your findings, or your entire reporting plan. The pitch is (hopefully) the beginning of a conversation, not the whole conversation.  \nGive editors what they need to take your pitch up the editorial ladder.  \nI normally recommend a four-paragraph pitch. There are four important things to get in:  \na) what the story is;  \nb) why it matters--and why it matters now;  \nc) what your findings are; and  \nd) why you should be the one to write it.  \nBreaking those down:  \na) What the story is.  \nThis is your first paragraph, and I would try to do it in under five sentences. It’s similar to what is usually called the elevator pitch, but I always find it more helpful to think of it as“how would you explain this to your grandmother.” This is important because editors you are pitching may not be very well informed on the particular topic you have spent your last three months researching. Very basically, lay out what the story is you are trying to tell. For news stories, what’s the news? For a magazine story, what’s the form (profile, essay, etc.) and what’s your angle? It’s okay to have a “lede,” but not a long, literary one; it should be more like one sentence, and a short one.  \nb) Why does this matter.  \nThis is your second paragraph. Try starting it using some variation of: “The significance of this story is …” or “This story matters because …” You can cut those out, but it’s a good habit to get into writing it. The significance paragraph is your opportunity to tie this to a larger trend, news event, etc. Usually I think this paragraph is about three sentences long, and the first or second should include the peg for the story as well—i. e., why this mattersnow. And if you are covering a story that a lot of other people have written about, make sure you add a sentence that says,“This story is different from the other coverage on this topic because…” or,“My story will significantly change the storyline on this topic …”  \nc) What goods did you get  \nFor an investigative piece, this is where you lay out your findings. Some questions to think about for this part: How long have you worked on it? What special access do you have (ifa profile, mention if you have access to the person you are profiling, plus all her friends and pets)? What kind of proprietary reporting do you have? You are trying to let the editor know what you’ve got that’s special. If bulleted items are useful to show what your findings are, this would be the place to include them.  \nOne note of caution: You don’t want to put in too much and give away your findings to an outlet that could assign the piece to another reporter. But you have to give enough to give them a sense of the kind of thing you have. So you can tell them that you have an exclusive source, a category of information, or some data crunched, but you don’t have to put in the name of the source or all the details of the information or data. This is a good place to consult with your Investigative Fund editor to make sure you are representing your work but also protecting it.  \nd) Why you are the right person to do this story  \nThis is the “about the author” paragraph. Don’t include your whole resume. Just two or three sentences that include what matters most for this pitch: This coul","cbCaihRsHwfUZexr","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaihRsHwfUZexr","pdf",35866,"English","# How to keep a story proposal short\n## Direct writing for quick scanning\n# The four-paragraph structure\n## What the story is\n## Why it matters now\n## What findings you have\n## Why you are the right person\n# Sending and follow-up","[{\"question\":\"How long should a strong story proposal be?\",\"answer\":\"Most editors have no time, so pitches should be anywhere from one paragraph to about 1,000 words. A common target is around 500 words.\"},{\"question\":\"What four paragraphs should a story proposal include?\",\"answer\":\"A strong pitch typically includes: (a) what the story is, (b) why it matters and why it matters now, (c) what findings you have, and (d) why you are the right person to write it.\"},{\"question\":\"How should you handle investigative findings without giving too much away?\",\"answer\":\"Provide enough detail to show the kind of work you have—such as an exclusive source category, specific access, or summarized data—but avoid sharing the full identity of sources or all underlying details. Consulting an Investigative Fund editor can help protect your work.\"}]","How to Write a Strong Story Proposal - tipsheet | PDF",1790084384]