A Writing Tip So Obvious I’m Embarrassed I Never Thought of It Until Now

While it’s written for journalists, the same principle applies to writing in general.

From the Wall Street Journal’s latest language column:

If your lede starts off with an official, an agency, an organization, or a company following some sort of process, take another look. Yes, sometimes the process being followed is the news, but usually it’s not.

Process
A special committee of the board of directors of XYZ Corp. recommended Monday that Chief Executive John Schmidlapp resign over sexual-misconduct allegations that have dogged him since January.

Better
XYZ Corp. Chief Executive John Schmidlapp should resign over sexual-misconduct allegations that have dogged him since January, a special committee of the company’s board of directors said Monday.