Mōrena (good morning) from Aotearoa, New Zealand 👋🏼
When I was a news reporter I would often have to sum up complex stories in two paragraphs. It was hard. But there was one basic thing that would really help me.
I didn’t learn at four years of university, or from being mentored by some experienced senior reporters. I learned it in primmer two at Auckland Point School in the 80s from my teacher.
In any good story, she said, you need to explain your ‘who, where, why, what, why and how.’ You need to make sure you’ve answered these questions for your reader.
Who is this person? Where are they? What are they doing? Why are they doing it? How are they doing it?
This simple lesson has held me in good stead through many a blog, article, paragraph, email, and conversation since then.
If I answer these six questions, I tend to cover the most important information, in any story.
And I hope you can make use of this lesson too, as you navigate through your story. Each time you finish a scene, a paragraph or even a chapter, ask yourself, have you covered those six questions?
Charlotte x
If you found this useful, there’s plenty more where that came from in my awesome online course Write Your Memoir.
You can sign up to my course and my weekly newsletter here: www.charlottesquire.co.nz
Charlotte Squire 