Decide what the point of the story is. This can be difficult if there are many facets to a story, but choose what you feel is the most newsworthy. Consider how you would start the story if you were talking to a friend.
Pick a style for your story. If it's a soft-news feature, you can take more liberties with the story's introduction. Most newspaper stories are hard news, however, and require a straight telling of the news.
Write the lead. This will hook the reader as he or she scans the news page and draw him or her into the story. Short leads of less than 25 words are best, unless a detailed explanation is necessary in the opening sentence.
Follow the lead with a short, explanatory paragraph and the "nut graph." The latter will summarize the whole story in a paragraph. You should tell readers how this topic affects them early in the story: taxes will go up, bulldozers will destroy the park, etc. Answer the "five Ws": who, what, when, where and why.
Relate only the most relevant news in the first few paragraphs using the so-called inverted pyramid format. This starts with the most important details first, then trickles down until the least-important details are left for the bottom. Readers' attention spans have grown increasingly shorter. They are accustomed to reading short blips of news online. Most readers will not follow the story to the jump page deeper inside the newspaper, so make your point quickly.
Adhere closely to Associated Press style, grammar and spelling. AP style has its quirks and its requirements frequently change, but it's the format most newspapers follow. Mistakes in grammar and spelling and inconsistent use of style distract the reader and chip away at your credibility.
Fact-check your article during and after your writing. Your news should be as accurate as possible in every aspect, from the spelling of a name to the dollar amount of a land transaction. If you have any questions while writing, call your source to ask a follow-up question or do a quick search online to get an answer.