ETC5523: Communicating with Data

Workshop 3: Finding the shape of a data story

Author

Michael Lydeamore

Published

1 March 2001

🎯 Objectives

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

  • recognise the structural roles played by parts of a data story;
  • order information for a web reader; and
  • write a headline, lede and transitions that guide a reader.
A fictional fact pack

The facts below were invented for this writing exercise. Treat them as accurate within the exercise; do not use them as a real source.

1. Quickwrite: what makes you continue? (5 minutes)

Think about the last article, post or webpage that held your attention. Write continuously about what made you continue after the first few sentences.

2. Read and label the fragments (7 minutes)

The following fragments come from an unfinished story about a fictional council library program. Label each fragment with the role it might play: lede, key result, background, method, caveat, or close.

A. The council introduced Sunday opening at three branches in February after residents requested more weekend access.

B. Sunday visits reached 1,840 in May, more than double the 790 recorded during the program’s first month.

C. For families crowded around the children’s tables, an extra day has made the library feel less like a weekday service and more like part of the weekend.

D. The figures come from entrance counters. Staff estimate that occasional double-counting occurs when visitors leave and return on the same day.

E. If the trend continues through August, the council will consider extending Sunday opening to two smaller branches.

F. Across the first four months, the three branches recorded 5,420 Sunday visits.

3. Build two possible structures (8 minutes)

Order the fragments twice:

  1. as a short news story using an inverted-pyramid structure;
  2. as a feature or blog post that begins with people and gradually reveals the result.

There is more than one defensible answer. Beside each order, state what the reader encounters first and why.

4. Write the missing pieces (12 minutes)

Choose one structure and write:

  • a specific headline of no more than 12 words;
  • a lede of no more than 35 words; and
  • two transitions that make the ordered fragments feel like one story.

Do not merely announce the topic. Let the headline and lede carry information.

5. The web scan test (7 minutes)

Exchange only your headline, lede and fragment order with a partner. Your partner has 20 seconds to read, then answers from memory:

  1. What happened?
  2. Why might it matter?
  3. What would you expect to read next?

Record the answers; do not defend the draft.

6. Revise and reflect (6 minutes)

Use the reader’s response to revise one sentence. Then complete:

The structure makes the reader notice ______ before ______. This is useful because ______.