This document discusses techniques for visualizing and outlining narratives and stories. It recommends creating a "Lovelady sentence" of 25 words or less to summarize a project or story. Other visualization techniques include outlines, timelines, minimum/maximum details, key themes, and indicating whether the story structure will be chronological or thematic. It notes that multitasking is inefficient and increases errors, and recommends focusing on one task at a time using techniques like the Pomodoro method.

1. Brain Flipping
IRE 2017
Leah Kohlenberg, artist, @leahkohlenberg
Maud Beelman, Associated Press, @maudbeelman
Jennifer LaFleur, Reveal, @j_la28

5. STORY CRAFT by Jack Hart
‘A general contractor doesn’t
just start building … He consults
his blueprint … as he
methodically works his way
toward the finished structure
depicted in his drawing. The
most confused, anxious, and
unproductive narrative writers
work like contractors without
blueprints.’

6. Doodles and other ways of visualizing...
‘John McPhee, the master of
nonfiction explanatory narrative,
obsesses on structure, in part
because sketching out a simple
blueprint helps him find his way
through the thickets of
information that sprout as he
reports a story.’
--Jack Hart

7. Visualizing the pieces

8. • Lovelady sentence (25 words or less)
• Outlines (project, story)
• Timelines and chronologies
• Minimums/Maximums
• Key themes and storylines
• Story structure: chronological or thematic
• Project structure: narrative, series, rolling investigation
• Non-linear story-telling elements (data viz, video, photos, etc.)
• Memos, write as you go
Tools of the trade...

9. We don’t really multitask
•Researchers call it task switching
•It takes more time to get tasks completed if you switch
between them than if you do them one at a time.
• You make more errors when you switch than if you do one
task at a time.
• If the tasks are complex then these time and error penalties
increase.

10. On average, we switch tasks every 11 seconds
Stanford University

11. Tools for better brain use
• Do your most brain intensive task first thing before checking email,
Twitter, Facebook
• Turn off notifications
• Pomodoro technique – Do a focused task for 25 minutes and nothing
else. Then take a break
• Split up your time between analytical tasks and creative tasks
• Change positions, use brain breaks – such as puzzles
• Draw first thing in the morning