So-What Graphs

Terry Greene Sterling launched this discussion of "so-what graphs?" This is an edited version of the discussion.

Do any of you have any tips or drills for teaching beginners how to write "so-what graphs" that tell the reader why the story is important?
Terry Greene Sterling, Arizona State University

Chip Scanlan, a senior faculty member of the writing program at Poynter is a proponent of the "so-what" method and includes it in his textbook commonly used for college-level Beginning Reporting courses like the one I'm teaching at the University of South Florida/St. Petersburg this semester (Reporting and Writing: Basics for the 21st Century). His textbook has a copyright of 2000 and I know he's revising it.
Debbie Wolfe, St. Petersburg Times

I always stress that the so-what or nut graf is an essential part of working out the story idea. It should be worked out and refined in the budget line before the story is approved for assignment, and should be updated as the story progresses to reflect what the reporter is learning while talking to sources.

I would make it a point to avoid any kind of checklist or set of rules. This is something that needs to be communicated between the editor and the reporter, and is how experienced editors transmit the values of the organization to the reporters. It can take the form of many different questions: Why do we care? Who's hurt/helped? What's at stake here? and others, but it essentially boils down to requiring the reporter to think about the value of whatever information s/he expects to give the reader with this proposed story. Maybe the best approach is the bluntest: "Why would anyone want to read that story?" or more simply, as the name suggests, "So what?" Work out the answer to that question and there's the nut graf.

Obviously, figuring this out during the writing of the story means the editor and reporter started thinking about this waaaaay too late. But we see it in papers every day, in the dozens of pointless stories that, quite simply, don't need to be told, or need to be told in a way that means something to the reader.

One thing I stress to my reporters: There's a BIG difference between a story IDEA and a real story. Reporters need to understand that their job is to develop story ideas into stories, and that not every idea is going to make it to an assignment. Working out the nut graf together is how you train your reporters recognize and develop ideas into concrete stories.
Brian O'Connor, freelance writing coach

This may seem like semantics, but try changing "so what" to "impact." What will be the impact of the news on readers? (What will the news change, improve, make worse, etc.? Who wins, who loses, etc.) What is the immediate impact and the long-range impact?

Trying to determine how to make people "care" leads to a lot of weird thinking and bad writing. A clear, intelligent and precise explanation of the impact of something is a more tangible target. Then readers may choose to care or not.

If you go with impact, there are several exercises or critical thinking approaches you can try. Consider the "impact map" in William Blundell's book, "The Art and Craft of Feature Writing," (pp 26) which takes the concept of idea or story mapping and adds a cause-and-effect twist. As the map grows, you move from the news to different layers of impact. You can also use the five whys exercise. Take the news event and ask why. With that answer in hand, ask why again. After four or five whys you've worked back or deeper into cause-and-effect relationships. This can flesh out a more complete picture of what is happening and lead to a better understanding of impact to come.

If you get into this, you might find it interesting to lead stories with impact (what used to be called writing the second day story the first day), a tactic that can help offset the handicap a morning newspaper faces in a 24-hour news world.
Michael Roberts, The Arizona Republic

I firmly believe that so-what graphs, nut graphs, and other labels for parts of stories distract writers. Thinking about the reader - what does the reader want to know, what is my story about, etc., is more important than formulas for writing. We sometimes get carried away with plans for where the nut graph goes and forget about the reader. A good outline, something such as Jon Franklin advocates in "Writing for Story" gives writers much more feeling for what readers want to know and what the story is about than trying to figure a way to slip in a graph that explains the story. Let the story tell itself. Think about the story before you gather information, plan your approach, gather material, ORGANIZE it, and then write.
Paul LaRocque, retired, freelance writing coach/editor

Several years ago as a writing coach at a newspaper, I wondered aloud at my first meeting with the staff why all of their stories had a background paragraph as the third paragraph of the story. The paragraph usually disrupted the flow of the story. Turns out, a previous editor had issued an order that all stories needed background in the third graph. Upon hearing this, the new editor rescinded the previous editor's rule, to the relief of the reporters.

Paul is right. Focus on the reader, not the rules. A long time ago, Mike Sager, then of the Washington Post, said in a letter to me in which he pooh-poohed so-what graphs: "I consider my time wasted if my story is dismissed out of hand on the basis of subject. How do the readers know they're not interested if they haven't read the story? Life is fascinating, and if told properly, any slice of it can be too."
R. Thomas Berner, professor emeritus, The Pennsylvania State University

Our newsroom held a workshop on this topic last week: "How to Stay One Step Ahead of Your Editor/The Story Focus ... ."

Sports Editor Mike Sherman, the workshop leader, stressed that reporters should ask themselves in each story: "What is the most compelling question?" or "What is the most compelling element of the story?" In most cases, he said, they should try to answer that question for readers in the first five paragraphs.

I think that it would take a compelling narrative (difficult for even experienced writers) not to have the focus or purpose high in the story. The emphasis should always be the reader, but if readers don't understand the purpose of the story quickly, they'll probably go on to another story or page or some other publication.

Bryan Painter, features editor at The Oklahoman, puts it this way: "You wouldn't get into a car without knowing where it's going. Why would you write a story for readers without letting them know where you're taking them?" I dislike strict rules, too. They tend to hinder writers more than help them. We do, however, have the following "guideline" in our Online Stylebook:

"A 'nut graph,' which provides information on why the story is being written, is important for most news, issues and second-day stories and many news features and features. However, some feature stories -- humorous, suspense, certain narrative, etc. -- don't need them until later.

"As for a Page 1 or section cover story, it will be difficult to keep people reading if they don't understand the story's purpose, especially if the 'nut graph' is buried in the seventh or eighth paragraph of the jump."

In his workshop, Mike used an exercise that you could use: He passed out two stories (one breaking news and feature) and asked participants to read them and then discuss the most compelling questions. He used a flip chart to record their comments and then provided his thoughts on the compelling questions, as well as questions that could result in follow-up stories or narratives. In other words, he placed the writers in the position of being the readers and asked what they as readers would want in the story.

Then toward the end of the session, he asked participants to think about the "most compelling themes" of their beats in 2005. Questions could include: "What will readers be talking about?" and "What people will be the most compelling subjects of my stories."

It's also important that editors consistently have discussions with reporters about the most compelling questions for readers or what would make them care more about the story.
Joe Hight, The Oklahoman

There are two basic newspaper stories -- the feature and the news story. If it's a news story, most often the lead will tell readers what the story is about, and that will most likely catch reader interest. If it is a feature, the writer's craft is what catches the readers' interest: foreshadowing, compelling writing, anecdotes, etc., all giving a strong hint of THE STORY.

Tom Berner's story about the disruptive graph illustrates what can happen when editors enforce formulas. Paula, my wife, tells a horror story of an editor who banned all use of the verb "to be," because, as he said, it's passive. Imagine a story without is, was, were, etc.? A writer I coached told me his editor wanted people doing something in the lead of every story. That nonsense produced leads that had nothing to do with the story. Of course, those stories had a "nut graph" because the lead was misleading.

Let's teach writers the craft of writing and not tie them to formulas. Writing should be creative, even in news stories. Encourage writers to experiment and help them when they go astray. Think reader and be creative. Let the story determine the writing style.

You probably would not get into a car not knowing where the driver was taking you if you did not know the driver. However, if the driver, a friend, said, "I've got a surprise for you. Get in." You'd go. It's the writer's job to be a friend of the reader and to show the reader that something pleasant is about to happen -- an interesting, and perhaps entertaining, journey through words.
Paul LaRocque