From Fred to Michelangelo

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The Parable of Michelangelo’s David

The lesson of the “Fred Rule,” as you know, is that you can get your message across most easily—in a conversation or in a news story—if you can identify the single most important thing that’s happening: “I was in a car wreck!” “I got an A on my exam!” “Those so-and-so’s are going to raise our taxes again!!”

These aren’t news story leads, of course, but they telegraph the most important news. Your job as the writer is to expand that nugget into the appropriate form and add the necessary additional information and background and corroboration. Right?

Add to Fred the famous statue of David, by Michelangelo. How the heck, you might wonder, did Michelangelo change a block of featureless marble into something that not only looks like David, but sings David?

You can find that story by clicking here for The Parable of Michelangelo’s David. What does this statue have to do with newswriting? Well, see if you can figure it out. Gold star for the first to email me with the answer.
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