10. Types of stories

A basic tool of the citizen journalist.

It’s all storytelling, you know. That’s what journalism is all about…
Tom Brokaw.

IN OUR WORK as citizen journalists we make use of a variety of story formats to engage with readers’ imagination and offer variety on our website.
Some citizen journalists will adopt a particular story format and stick to it. It might be a straightforward news writing style suited to the subject matter and tone of their blog. Others might go for humour, instruction or satire. A blog commenting on politics or technology, for example, might stick to a formal style of reporting and analysis suited to the topic. This will give the blog a particular tone that readers might describe as serious and insightful.

If we choose not to adopt a particular style of writing, it is a good idea to offer a range of story formats on our blog. This can increase reader engagement.
Story formats include:

Narratives of experience

These are stories of events, incidents, travel and so on experienced by the writer or by others.

The stories report the writer’s observations and interpretations. They might offer advice. Accounts can be written in the first person.

Writers might context their story in current affairs, using it as an example. Sometimes, writers will relate their or their subject’s experience to some philosophical principle.

News stories

The concept of ‘news’ as it apples in journalism describes reporting something that is new to a target audience. It might be something that has not happened before or it might be a new development of a previous event. It can be a development elsewhere that would be of interest to a specialist readership and is unlikely to be known to them.

Five W’s and an H — the journalistic questions: what, who, when, where, why and how

News stories are traditionally written in the concise, inverted pyramid newswriting format (see later). The style is useful where publishing space is limited and where readers might not have time to read a complete story because the format gets the main points across in the first few paragraphs. There is no need to adopt this style providing a news story answers the journalistic questions of what, who, when, where, why and how. Media organisations will have their own style manuals describing how news is reported.

Newswriting also includes reporting new developments in news already reported. This is common where an event has first been reported as breaking news and where there is information still unknown because the event is still in progress. Reporting further developments takes the form of updates. Some news organisations use Twitter to run frequent developing news updates from reporters in the field.

Updates are also made when there are later developments in an item reported some time ago.

Feature stories

These are longer stories that explore a topic in detail. Sometimes called ‘longreads’ because they take time to read, they can be analytical or follow the development of some idea, event or thing. In a print magazine they will span several pages.

The stories may use creative-non-fiction writing techniques for reporting factual stories. From fiction writing they borrow plot, character description, detailed description of people/places/ideas, emotion, internal thought and direct quoted speech. They may be formatted chronologically or as a series of sub-stories around particular ideas leading to some conclusion.

Creative non-fiction uses the story arc of introduction > rising tension as challenges are faced > resolution, the peak of tension which forms the peak of the story arc > wind-down where loose ends are tied together, lessons learned, how people were changed by their experience and where the people involved move into the future. This is a legacy of the New Journalism of the 1970s.

Descriptive narrative stories

Descriptive narrative stories are a type of feature story about some thing or some event.

They answer questions like:

• why was it built? to solve what problem or take advantage of which opportunity?
• who did it?
• what obstacles were encountered and how were they solved?
• what opportunities were encountered and how were they taken advantage of?
• what would be done differently next time?
• what lessons were learned?
• what advice to others thinking of doing the same thing or something similar?.

Descriptive narratives do not use the creative-non-fiction format. The intention is for the reader to gain understanding. To assist this they can include interesting, tragic or humourous anecdotes as word-vignettes to illustrate some points made in the story. This also personalises the story, grounding it in the quoted speech of a

Reviews

Reviews are opinion pieces about a media product like a book, article, video or film. They are critiques and may comment on accuracy, adequacy, style, technique and other characteristics. Reviews can be critical or supportive.

Reviews can comment on how well or otherwise a product achieves what it sets out to do. They can be about tools and technologies. The purpose is to explain how well, or not, tools work and how the tool or tech could be improved.

When reviewing tech, reviews are more authoritative when the writer is familiar with the application of the product or tech. For example, if reviewing bushwalking packs or equipment, it really helps where the reviewer is an experienced bushwalker.

Comparison stories

These are like reviews of two or more products to determine which does what better, which is best for a particular application, which is best value for money.

The stories choose a set of criteria with which to compare things.

Expository stories

‘Expository’ means to expose. Expository stories are written to provide information about something. These are factual and analytical feature articles. Expository stories are like reviews.

They provide the reader with comprehensive information something:
• what do we know?
• what has been tried and did it work?
• who was involved?
• costs?
• problems and solutions
• is it fit for purpose?

An example of an expository story would be a case study about a building that describes its purpose, design, materials and other factors. The writer need not offer their opinion on the value or success of the structure, however where they do it is best to make clear that this is one person’s viewpoint and not not that of others.

List publications, videos etc and provide links to further information, reviews and original documents.

How-to stories

As step-by-step instructions on how to do something, readers/viewers come away with sufficient knowledge about how to do it themselves.

The steps involved are offered sequentially. List the tools, equipment and materials, including quantities and sources if they are not common materials.

Guides

Guides are comprehensive instructional stories that take readers through a topic so that they gain a practical and comprehensive understanding of how something is done. They may include sequential, how-to content. Their purpose is to impart understanding of a topic.

For example, whereas a how-to story on making a vegetable garden would take the reader step-by-numbered-step through a process, a guide to making vegetable gardens might include a history of the practice and a range of design-and-build options as well as some technical information about soils and botany. A guide can be thought of as a more comprehensive work than a how-to story.

Similarly, a getting-started story might briefly explain the steps necessary to getting your new camera to work so you can quickly set it up and go outside and start using it. A camera guide book would explain different ways of using the camera, various settings, the optical performance of different lenses, file formats and provide a comprehensive understanding of the camera and its capabilities.

A travel guide describes a place’s history, geography, information on how to get there, what to see and do, costs and precautions. It offer a range of activities as activities and options at the destination.

A guide is ‘about’ something rather than how to do it although it may include how-to information.

Case studies

Case studies explore the detail of something. Readers or viewers go away with an understanding of why and how something was done, its design and functionality and lessons learned.

A case study of the classroom-on-the-commons at Randwick Community Centre in Sydney, for example, covered:

• the reasons for starting the project
• how it was funded
• the architect’s design brief
• how the architect approached the design in achieving energy and water efficiency as well as multifunctionality
• how recycled building materials were sourced and used
• how the building relates to the surrounding landscaping
• observations and lessons coming from the use of the building.

Serialised stories

Rather than explore some topic in a longer story, break it up into segments and publish weekly or at some other regular time intervals.

Link to previous segments and alert readers that another is coming.

That is how this series, Citizen Journalism, was published. Chapters were posted in groups around major theme segments. Serialised stories might later be combined into an ebook, such as Citizen Jounralism may be republished.

Notifications

Post notification of events, courses, workshops, seminars etc on social media.

A fixed format consisting of:

• what the event is called
• its intent
• who it would be most beneficial to (beginners, experienced etc)
• who the presenters are (link to their websites if the event blurb does not include bios)
• date
• time
• venue (link to an online map)
• fee if any (say if it is free).

These are brief, informational postings.

Here’s an example:

EVENT: Organic Gardening course.
A seven-session course on Saturday afternoons designed for people who want to grow food in home and community gardens.
DATE: Starts September 14. Ends September 25. 1PM to 5.30PM.
VENUE: Classroom-on-the-Commons, Randwick Commuity Centre, 27 Munda Street, Randwick NSW. (link an online map showing the location).
FEE: Free.
BOOKINGS: Eastern Suburbs Community College (include detail).
EDUCATORS: Steve Batley, landscape architect and permaculture educator. Fiona Campbell, Randwick Council sustainability educator, permaculture educator (add links to educators’ websites).
WHAT TO BRING: Something for taking notes. Hat for sun protection. Enclosed shoes (not sandals). Warm clothing in case of cool weather.
NOTE: The course includes outside activity in the garden. Gardening gloves and suncream are supplied. A simple afternoon tea is supplied.
A Randwick Council Sustainability Unit initiative.

Portraits/interview stories

The portrait introduces a person to readers/viewers. It is essentially is an interview story written from material derived from the questions we ask.

Questions reveal something about the subject’s life and their work.
Mix direct quotes with narrative. Interviewing the person is necessary, either in person on via phone or online. This is recommended over an email interview as it gets impromptu comments that can be revealing. A recorder app on your mobile device or a separate audio recorder can be useful and gives the option of including an edited sound file with the story. Make sure the person knows you are recording the interview.

Include a clear, head-and-shoulders photograph taken close to the subject. Alternatively, show them in their workplace in an environmental portrait — person plus the environment they work in. Ensure the person is prominent and recogniseable in the image.

Interviewees might be reluctant to discuss some aspect or event in their lives. Whether you try to get them to reveal some information is up to you and the purpose of your interview. You might press for details if the person is a public figure and learning about their experience is in the public interest. The event might have been hurtful rather that their trying to cover up something.

Biographies

Biographies are longer stories about people than portrait/interview stories.

The stories explore their motivations, challenges and life experience. Whereas the portrait might focus on a particular part of their life or a particular thing they have done, the biography ranges further over their life, perhaps as far back as childhood. It can include memories of family, other people, places and events and might include intimate detail.

Again, interviewees might be reluctant to talk about some aspects of their life. Biographers often interview others who know the subject and this can reveal additional information to create a more-rounded impression.

Opinion

Give your informed opinion on something. What do you think of it? Is it helpful or not? Does it do what it says it should do? Is it easy to use? Will the idea work?

Analyse, suggest how well it works and, if making criticism, say how it could be improved. Opinion pieces are like reviews but they can be more personal articles. Reviews might exclude reference to the reviewer.

Opinion is best when it can be shown that it comes from a reasoned analysis rather than some bias the writer has. In giving opinion beware of cherry picking facts to support your opinion and disregarding contrary evidence. This risks confirmation bias, reporting only those facts that support what you already believe.

Problem solving

Find a common problem people encounter and describe how we or others have overcome it.

Include what didn’t work so that others do not have to discover that for themselves. Talk about what worked so they can try it.

Social media is a useful source of learning about the problems people face. If this is a common question it can form the basis for a problem solving article. Post the article on your website and distribute a description and the link to relevant social media sites.

Alternatively, crowdsource solutions by asking readers to describe how they solved similar problems and gather these into an article.

Philosophical stories

These are stories about the big questions in life. They can describe how the writer or someone else deals with these types of questions. Philosophical stories are to do with finding meaning, purpose and fulfilment.

They are also about how people think and act when faced with a dilemma. For example, a story might be about how someone made a choice when faced with a moral dilemma.

The stories might illustrate how someone applied philosophical concepts in a situation. It might be about how some life event led to someone adopting a philosophical outlook. For example, a person might lose their wealth and expensive home and be forced to minimise their possessions and live in a van. After living this way for a time they discover Stoic philosophy and, rather than rebuild their previous affluent life, they adopt voluntary simplicity and a life helping others set and reach their goals and deal with life’s dilemmas.

Polls

Conduct an opinion poll with yes/no or agree/disagree answers.

Allow comments in which respondents can contextualise their responses and offer suggestions. Report the results of the poll and any follow-up action. Offer analysis of any results if that would be useful.

Question posts

Ask readers a question such as how they solved some problem. Later, summarise the solutions or responses in a new post.

This type of story can help others solve some problem and can give them new ideas.

Competitions

Run a competition to seek solutions about some problem readers have. There is no need to offer prizes, however acknowledging those making correct answers is courteous and provides a psychological reward by boosting their status.

At the end of the competition, write an article summarising and reflecting on the responses.

List posts

Make a list of related things, just their name and a brief paragraph on each. For example, a list of current courses, books or videos, a list of leguminous plants for food gardens.

We might adopt a structure such as ‘the ten best books on permaculture design’, ‘the twelve best bugs for kitchen gardens’, ‘the five best ways to silence know-it-alls’ or similar.

Link posts

Link posts connect readers to useful online resources by posting their URL and a brief description of the resource, usually just a short paragraph or two. They are similar to list posts, however whereas list posts do not necessarily include URLs, link posts do.

The purpose is to make resources available. List a small number of linked resources per article.

In making list posts of useful resources, bloggers become intermediaries between resources and those who would find them of value. This can provide a valuable service, saving people the time of searching for resources for themselves.

Call to action

The call to action is a structure to make something happen by recruiting a lot of people to act at the same time.

Structured, perhaps, on the Action Learning format of look > think > act, we supply the ‘look’ and ‘think’ components through analysis, then call upon readers to do something about it in the call to action ‘act’ phase.

For example, we might describe plans for a big coal mine on land presently used for farming, then talk about the value of farming over coal mining and its contribution to a warming global climate. We follow that up by calling on readers to do take easy-to-do, achievable action that contributes to keeping the land for farming.

Historical stories

There are narratives that explore he role of people, places, events, trends, buildings, ideas, tools and technologies in shaping the present.

Historical stories are valuable for creating an understanding of how something has developed and, in this sense, they can context the present in the actions of people in the past.

Literature research and interviewing people are approaches we can use. Historical articles are educational posts. Recorded as interviews with people who were present in a time and place and edited as an audio file for podcasting, they take the form of oral history.

Food stories

This is not about photographing your meal at the cafe and posting it to Instagram with a comment of how good or terrible it was.
Food stories do benefit from photographs and the inclusion of recipes, however why not do something different to the average food writer and blog about the botany, the cultural processes and cooking, the kitchen tools traditionally used, the centres of diversity (where the plants came from) of the food plants used in a recipe?.

Reporting humorous of tragic stories of our own experience and our misadventures in cooking can bring levity to a serious story.

Food stories can be anthropological when we include the role of food and its preparation in cultures.

A quiz

Less structured than a competition, quizzes are informal and prizeless and have a fixed duration after which we identify the correct answer and perhaps those discovering it.

Make it educational by quizzing readers about something relevant to their interests. Make it neither easy and obvious nor too difficult and encourage a little research.

The quiz is formatted in a lighthearted way that makes it fun. Post on social media on a day when use of social media peaks. An example would be the publishing of a photo of some unusual fruit on social media focused on gardening, and asking for identification.

Memoir

Memoir is personal history — memory, recollections. It describes the experience of living through a period from the point of view of the writer.

Memoir includes recollections for our own past. It might be about daily life in some past time or about some event. Memoir can include expository segments in the narrative to contextualise something experienced and the events of the time and may illustrate an individual’s response to those.

Memoir has value as history as lived experience. Include recollections of emotions. Memoir can also be used as therapeutic journal writing, such as when someone wants to clarify something in their past. This might be for personal use only or it may be later published.

In writing memoir there is a struggle between privacy and exposure. Do we identify people involved? Much will depend on what we are writing about.

We should know that others involved could recall incidents, people and time differently. That is what happened when an old friend and I started a shared-writing exercise about a period in our lives that we went through. Her recollections of places and times sometimes differed. Occasionally, she remembered details or some incident that I had forgotten, and sometimes I recalled things she had forgotten. The result was a more-accurate and fuller story than would have been produced had only one of us written it. The experience made clear how memory can retain or forget important detail.

Photo essays

A photo essay is a series of related photos that, together with a minimum of text, tell a story.

They may explore a topic, a place or event or be structured as a how-to article.

Single photo stories

A single photo illustrating or representative of something, accompanied by a brief informative text, can have educational and informational uses.

Video

Reportage of an event, interviews and instructional formats are among the many ways to structure video reports

Mixing fact and fiction

Another form for those with a flair for fiction writing is to present factual material as fiction. While fiction is not journalism, when it is based on current trends and events it is an avenue for speculating on possibilities.

Speculative fiction

Fiction with a basis in present-day fact allows us to explore trends, much as science fiction writers (such as Cory Doctorow and Kim Stanley Robinson) explore potential developments in society by taking them into an imagined future where they play out through imagined characters.

This is speculative fiction and its potential is to offer the reader insight into the different ways things might develop through presenting alternative scenarios, alternative histories and possibilities and, perhaps, ideas for taking action. It can be an engaging way to discuss possibilities.

History-based fiction

History-based fiction takes documented history as its basis and weaves the story of different protagonists onto it. We might think of it as fact overlaid with a fictional story.

Let me use the writing of a friend as an example. She participated in the social upheaval of the late 1960s-early 1970s, in the movement against US and Australian involvement in the war in Vietnam and in the birth of the feminist movement in Australia. Although she had some experience in journalism, she chose to write of those times in fictional form.

She did this by basing her (unpublished) book on the documented history of the time combined with her personal recollections of participating in events. She overlaid with the doings of her fictional characters. Thus, history and memoir form the basis of her book and the lives of her fictional characters are played out atop this but remain within the ambit of the history of the times. This gives the book some historic value as well as value as memoir.

Her characters, too, are based on real people. Sometimes, she amalgamated a couple real characters into a single character. Fictional names replaced the real names. Actual timelines of events were sometimes concatenated to keep the action flowing. The result is a fictional tale of fictional people, though some based on actual characters, overlaid atop historical events. It is a lively way of telling a story and forefronts the ambiance and feeling of the time and places she writes of.

The potential here is in creating characters, including amalgamated characters, in which people might recognise themselves. This might not be a problem, or, perhaps, it could be if someone has bad memories of the events.
The author could have produced a memoir documenting her experiences of the time or written a straight historic documentation, however the result is a book that reads as a novel but is based in the real-life events of a period in Australian history. The historic part is true. The characters and their lives are fiction or sometimes they are partially-true and amalgamated into single characters engaging in sometimes fictional relationships and interactions.
Productions like this are either books or longform articles. Their value lays in portraying how individuals experienced a period in history.

The fiction writer, Jack Keroucac, took a similar approach. The exploits he wrote of were actual. The characters were closely based on the people he associated with, their names changed.