Have you ever written an obituary before? As much as the word obituary sound so depressing, there is also something to look forward or to know about when you want to write about obituaries. If you have, you may notice the format and the pattern when it comes to writing articles in newspapers. They may look the same , but they have their own unique way of writing it. However, the better question here is do you plan or do you want to be able to know how to write obituaries in a newspaper? If you do, simply because you are curious or you want to learn more about it, this is the right place for you. In this article, you’re going to learn about an obituary and the steps in writing this part of a newspaper.
From the introduction above, you may already have an idea of what an obituary is, as well as the function of an obituary. An obituary is a part of a newspaper that reports the recent death of a particular individual. It contains information about the deceased individual, such as the date of birth, time of death, a short biography, funeral service, and the names of the individuals’ family.
An article from CNN revealed that they only have one editor who works in their obituaries during the outbreak of COVID-19. Now that the amount of deaths has reached 2,000, they planned to add more people to the team. Back in the day, obituaries were kept short because the process of printing a newspaper was time-consuming. But as technology modernized the world, obituaries evolved too. Nowadays, obituaries in large newspapers are sometimes written for significant people while the obituaries of local newspapers are often written for local people. An obituary acts as a tribute to the deceased loved one, so it needs to be written with accuracy and respect.
This also means that anyone who may be writing it must at least understand that this is a sensitive topic and should be written according to what information is being given. Be careful with the information given and always ask questions if you are not certain this is true or not. This is also to avoid any misunderstandings between you, writing the obituary and the family members of the deceased.
Writing an obituary can be a bit of work because you need to convey emotion into your words. There are many obituary templates available online, but if you want to create your own, you will find the steps and guidelines in this section that will help you write a good personal obituary.
Before you begin writing an obituary, you have to think about what you have to write. Aside from the death information, there are other things you can include in an obituary. The outline will act as a guideline or road map as you write your obituary. Your outline can be in the form of questions that will help you formulate its content and create a great transition. Writing an obituary without a form of a guide can be quite tricky. It can cause you to jump from information to information without thinking that it can affect the transition of your obituary. You must create an outline since it is how you can write a short obituary.
In writing an obituary, you should know the right information about the deceased. It is best to approach the family and ask questions or statements such as deceased life achievements and their happy memories together. Keep in mind that the family is still mourning over the loss of a dear loved one, so be careful in asking questions. Let them know that you are the one who is going to write an obituary and let them decide whether they want to be interviewed or not. Sometimes obituaries are made by the family with the help of the funeral director, and it is submitted to the newspaper company ready for publishing. You must incorporate the right information in writing your obituary to avoid publishing false obituaries. You may also check catholic obituary examples.
When you write an obituary, you must be personal. Put yourself in place of the family who lost a dear loved one and convey emotion to your words and write positive things about the deceased. When you write an obituary personally, it means that your words came from real emotion and not because you are asked to do it. You must acknowledge their loss and be personal as much as possible because it is how you can show your sympathy towards their grieving.
As you craft your obituary, everything must be in the correct position. The content of your obituary must have the right layout so that reading it can be easy. Keep in mind that newspapers use small-sized fonts, so you must keep everything in the right place. How you place the contents of your obituary can affect how the person reads the article. So it is always good to keep a neat layout of your business obituary.
If you are done writing your obituary, you must not forget to review its contents. Proofreading can help you find errors such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors in your obituary. It is important that this part of the newspaper must be void of any mistakes since it talks about a sensitive subject. If you don’t proofread, there is a slight chance that you may publish an obituary with errors in it, and it can cause problems to the newspaper company that can affect its reputation in the printing business.
A premature obituary is an incorrect announcement of the death of a particular individual. It may be because of a false death or misunderstanding between the family, funeral home, and the newspaper company. This is the reason why some newspaper companies have strict rules in receiving information about the recent death of an individual. They require proof such as a death certificate before publishing or writing an obituary about the death of a particular person.
A death notice is an announcement that gives out the name of the deceased and information of the memorial service. An obituary, on the other hand, is an article written about the deceased person and his family. It often contains a short biography about the deceased.
An obituary can cost up to $200 – $450, but it also varies by the newspaper company and the length of its content. Some newspapers require an additional fee if an image of the deceased is going to be included in the obituary.
An obituary is written in the newspaper that states the death of a person. A eulogy is a short biography speech of a person who passed away. Obituaries are written in the newspaper, while eulogies are spoken in funerals.
As you can see, writing an obituary needs a lot of devotion since it talks about a sensitive matter. Obituaries are newspaper elements that acknowledge the death of a particular person by talking about the positive things the person did during his living days. You must learn its basic components before writing an obituary. Now that you know what an obituary is, you can now start crafting an obituary for a newspaper company. You can also check obituary examples for fathers.