Principles of Storytelling
This Principle of Storytelling is how content creators use words to paint a picture for their readers to take them deeper into the story.
“No sooner had Sunderland finished his sentence and Stumler’s kill had found the floor than the dogpile formed and gold and silver confetti began falling to the court- The University of Kentucky women’s volleyball team had won the National Championship over Texas in a four-set battle.”
What is Descriptive Language?
This is how the audience determines how newsworthy a story is before ever actually reading it.
What is Story Placement?
A story from yesterday holds this news value much more than a story from a week ago.
What is Timeliness?
You get a tip about a story happening in your community. The governor is coming to your town next week to do a meet-and-greet with residents. This is the first time the governor has made an appearance in your town.
What is Prominence?
This Principle of Storytelling causes the audience to feel something.
What is Weave in Emotion?
Growth and Joy: How Reagan Rutherford has Grown into One of Kentucky Volleyball's Most Exciting - And Joyful - Players
What is Establish Structure?
This is the process of taking a national story and applying it to your own community.
What is Localizing a News Story?
A story involving the President contains this news value because of his status as a well-known figure.
What is Prominence?
You get a tip about a story happening in your community. The city wants to build a new park, and has $1 million in grant funding (taxpayers don’t have to pay for it). But the city council is divided on which park design to choose, one with or without a parking lot. The council meets next month to review and debate the options, and vote on which option to select.
What is Conflict?
These two Principles of Storytelling should be defined before a creator ever begins creating.
What are Clarity of Purpose and Define the Audience?
"And after watching from the sidelines during the NCAA Tournament her freshman year and being bounced from it early as a sophomore, the junior appears more ready than ever to take Kentucky back to the ultimate peak of college volleyball."
What is Clarity of Purpose?
This word means that a story is suitable and worth being on the news.
What is Newsworthy?
This category contains the proximity news value.
What is the Core 4?
You get a tip about a story happening at your school. A junior just learned she scored a perfect score on the ACT test, one of only a handful of students in the state to do so. She will be the first person in her family to attend college.
What is Human Interest?
This Principle of Storytelling makes it easy for an audience to understand.
What is Keep it Simple?
"In fact, from the time she began setting when she played on the 13's team in club until the day she graduated high school, Reagan actually played as both a right-side attacker and a setter."
What is Infuse Novelty?
This is how often death and destruction are considered newsworthy.
This news value is present when something surprising or rare occurs in a story.
What is Oddity?
You want to do a story about the school dropout rate in your district. The rate is very low, and has been for several years. The most recent data is from two years ago.
What is Proximity?
This Principle of Storytelling adds credibility to your stories and allows you to connect to your audience on a deeper level.
What is Find the Human Angle?
"I just want to be able to inspire the people around me, especially young black girls that don't see a lot of role models in this world."
What is Foster Community?
These are three of the eight common places where people can consume and gather news.
What is the Newspaper, a Newscast, the School Calendar, the School Website, Social Media, the News App, the Radio, and Talking to People.
This news value is present any time you make an audience cry or laugh with a story.
What is Human Interest?
You decide to do a story about the number of people who've experienced destruction due to the wildfires in LA. This news value holds the most weight given the angle of your story.
What is Impact?