thelondonwire.uk

What We Want Stories that don’t put people to sleep. That’s basically it. Even if the elderly people would find it interesting, you’re probably onto something. If only you and three other people in your field care about it, maybe not. We’re not fussy about topics. Business, sports, tech, celebrities, travel, London stuff and whatever. But it needs to be something people actually want to read. Not something they feel like they should read. Big difference. Write like a human being. Seriously. If you’re writing sentences you’d never say out loud, stop it. Nobody talks like a press release. Don’t write like one either. The AI Thing Let’s sort this out now. Don’t use AI Tools to write the article. Don’t use any of those writing tools. Don’t get a computer to write your article and then change a few words. We’ll know. It’s obvious. The rhythm’s wrong, the word choices are weird, and it all sounds like it came from the same place. We want your writing. Your ideas. Your way of putting sentences together. If you can’t do that without a computer’s help, this isn’t going to work out. This isn’t us being difficult. We’re called The London Wire because we want real journalism from real people. Not algorithm soup. Basic Stuff You Need to Know How long? Usually 800 to 1600 words. It could be shorter if the story’s tight. It could be longer if it really needs it. But if you’re pushing past 2000 words, it better be worth it. What kind of English? British. Always. We spell colour with a ‘u’. We go to the cinema, not the movies. We take the Tube. You know how this works. What’s the style? Talk to people like they’re people. Don’t be patronising. Don’t be boring. Don’t use five words when two will do. Pitching to Us Don’t just write something and send it over. Pitch first. Makes life easier for everyone. Tell us: What the story is. Two or three sentences. If you need more than that, you haven’t figured it out properly yet. Why should anyone care? What’s new about it? What’s the angle? Why today and not next month? Why you the one to write it? Do you know stuff other people don’t? Have you got access to someone or somewhere? What’s your edge? How you’d tackle it. Quick outline. Nothing fancy. Send that to the email on our contact page. We’ll read it within a week and tell you yes or no. If it’s a no, we’ll tell you why. If it’s a yes, we’ll sort out the details. Actually Writing the Thing Be specific about everything. “Many people” isn’t specific. “Three restaurant owners in Shoreditch” is specific. See the difference? Always go for the second one. Talk to real people and quote them properly. Not PR people reading off a script. Actual humans with actual opinions. And when you quote them, quote what they actually said. Don’t tidy it up to sound professional. Real speech doesn’t sound professional.