Summarize:

A human interest story does not have to adhere to all of the traditional news story rules, but in order to be printed it still needs to be newsworthy in a general sense.  While a traditional news story takes into account timing, significance, proximity and prominence to determine newsworthiness, a human interest story has a bit more leeway in each.  Timing and proximity usually means when something occurred and how close it was to the reader.  Human interest stories do not need to be as recent or as close in order to be newsworthy, but these elements should still be considered. Prominence is usually a measure of how well known those involved are to the readers.  This is less important to human interest stories as they often focus on normal individuals, but using prominent figures can still increase your likelihood of having your story printed. The significance of a human interest story is usually the emotion.  A human interest story should make the reader feel something. It may be tempting to craft a human interest story by altering the way you recount events or facts in order to make the story more interesting or increase the emotional weight of what occurred.  Doing so, however, will make you less credible as a journalist.  Writing your story in a misleading way not only does the reader a disservice, but it does the subjects involved in your story a disservice as well.  As a journalist, your job is to recount what occurred, not embellish or mislead your audience. Human interest stories can be noble endeavors, wherein you draw attention to important topics or garner support for great causes, but doing so in a dishonest way is wrong and often not tolerated by journalistic organizations like newspapers and magazines. The final step to writing a good human interest story is proofreading and editing it before submission.  Take some time away from your article and return to it with fresh eyes.  Read it over looking for spelling or grammatical errors as well as the way the story makes you feel.  The story should be free of errors before you submit it to ensure it is taken seriously as a professional piece of journalism. Pay attention to the tone and emotion of the story as you read it.  Did you convey the story in the way you intended?  You may need to revise it if the emotion becomes convoluted or you feel a different delivery could have an increased impact. Fact check your story to ensure you haven’t included incorrect information.
Assess how newsworthy your story is. Maintain your journalistic integrity. Proofread and edit your writing.