The document discusses the five stages of developing a story: idea, report, organize, draft, and revise. It provides guidance on each stage, including focusing the story, developing the central idea through reporting, organizing around a theme statement, and revising to maintain the focus. Various story forms like block, layer cake, and wine glass are presented to help shape the story at the organization stage. The five stages provide a process for writers to move from an initial idea to a finished story.

1. Five Stages of a Story
Idea Report Organize Draft Revise
Michael Roberts

2. Prose is architecture, not interior
decorating.
-- Ernest Hemingway

3. Idea Report Organize Draft Revise
Focus

4. Why focus?

5. Choose a suitable design and hold to it. A basic
structural design underlies every kind of writing.
Writing, to be effective, must follow closely the
thoughts of the writer, but not necessarily in the
order in which those thoughts occur. This calls for
a scheme or procedure…planning must be a
deliberate prelude to writing. The first principle of
composition, therefore, is to foresee or
determine the shape of what is to come and
pursue that shape.
-- William Strunk, E.B. White,
The Elements of Style

6. Artful and impeccable use of the language is
less important in storytelling than you think. A
well-shaped idea, convincing illustration and
interpretation of it, and sound story structure
count for more. Lacking these, the writer who
follows all the instructions on fine-tuning his prose
in all the book’s extant will produce a well-written
failure.
-- William Blundell,
The Art and Craft of Feature Writing

7. Perhaps the central step in the writing process,
focus gives a story unity and coherence. Most
stories should be about one thing. The writer
should understand and capture the heart of the
story and offer it to the reader. Focus determines
what to toss out as well as what to include. Many
problems, especially disorganization, result when
stories lack focus. Writers and editors search for
focus by using a variety of tools; writing the lead,
coming up with a headline, making a list of the
most important points in the story, and developing
a theme or point statement.
-- Roy Peter Clark, Don Fry, Coaching Writers

8. The most important thing in the story is finding
the central idea. It’s the one thing to be given a
topic, but you have to find the idea or the concept
within that topic. Once you have that idea or
thread, all the other anecdotes, illustrations
and quotes are pearls that hang on this
thread. The thread may seem very humble, the
pearls may seem very flashy, but it’s still the
thread that makes the necklace.
-- Thomas Boswell,
Washington Post

9. By the way, when you’re telling these little
stories, here’s a good idea: Have a POINT! It
makes it so much more interesting for the
listener.
-- Neal Page (Steve Martin) to Del Griffith (John Candy),
Planes, Trains and Automobiles

10. Five Stages of a Story
Idea Report Organize Draft Revise

11. Tasks
IDEA: Identify a central question or premise.
REPORT: Gather enough information to answer the
question or test the premise.
ORGANIZE: Determine the point of the story, the central
theme, and plan the story around that central focus.
DRAFT: With plan in hand, write the story.
REVISE: Revise for clarity and precision, guided by the
central focus.

12. Developing ideas
Story mapping: Map the story idea as a web. Lay out
all aspects of the idea. Select the most important part of
the “map” as the focus of the story and the reporting to
come.
Central question: Identify the central question at the
heart of your story idea. Then set out to answer that
question.
Premise: Frame your idea as premise (rather than a
fact) and set out to prove or disprove the premise.
Remain open-minded as the reporting progresses.

13. Developing ideas
Point of view: Write your topic or question in the middle
of a circle. Around the circle list all the people with a
connection to the story. Decide which person’s point of
view might be the best way to report and tell the story.
Reader questions: Ask five questions a reader would
ask about the topic. Set out to answer those five
questions.
Five whys: Ask “why” five times. Each “why” should take
you deeper into the topic and closer to the central
question or central premise.

14. Organizing stories
Story mapping: Re-map the story with all the
information accumulated through reporting. If using a
specific point of view, re-map the story with the selected
point of view at the center.
Theme statement: In a sentence or two, express the
central point of your story, the heart of your story. This
can be the answer to your central question or a
restatement of the central premise. Use the theme
statement to help determine what material stays in the
story, what is left out.

15. Organizing stories
Jot outline: List key points in the order they will appear
in the story. Consider story focus, length and packaging.
Story forms: Select a story form that will help shape the
story. Consider inverted pyramid, block, wine glass or
layer cake forms.

16. Jot outline
New state proficiency tests
• Overview on why, schedule, problems
• Why the new tests
• Schedule; requirements for passing
• Problems for schools to administer

17. 1: LEAD / OVERVIEW 8”:
• Across the country NCLB prompts what
• Meanwhile in AZ – along with others – what happens
• As result, AZ scores now show… and deadline to fix pushed back 4 years (preview chunk 2)
• As a result AZ financial burden is what… who wins or loses re schools (preview chunk 4)
• Arizona’s story is a tale of what (how/who did this)…(preview chunk 5)
• And Arizona’s story shows how WHAT re NCLB nationally, and will play out with real people
(preview chunk 3 and 5)
2: SCORES
• NCLB is all about accountability, which is scores and deadlines, with loss of $$ as the stick
• AZ, like other states, was facing big failure rates and big costs as result of measuring stick
• AZ, like others, changed the measuring stick by arguing what??
• Along the way, they also changed the deadline for completing this diluted improvement
3: TWO EXAMPLES
• Two key examples of change in measuring stick
4: FINANCIAL IMPACT
• AZ, like other states, was looking at big $$ to meet NCLB criteria
• New measurement means costs have dropped
• New measurement shifts where money will go to narrow group schools
5: A YEAR INTO NCLB LEAVES US WHERE
• Across the country this process has played out. Good for states. How for people?
• Examples of what this means at school/people level overall
• Comment from people who pulled this off, as well as people affected

18. 1: LEAD / OVERVIEW 8”:
• Across the country NCLB prompts what
• Meanwhile in AZ – along with others – what happens
• As result, AZ scores now show… and deadline to fix
pushed back 4 years (preview chunk 2)
• As a result AZ financial burden is what… who wins or
loses re schools (preview chunk 4)
• Arizona’s story is a tale of what (how/who did this)…
(preview chunk 5)
• And Arizona’s story shows how WHAT re NCLB
nationally, and will play out with real people (preview
chunk 3 and 5)

19. 2: SCORES
• NCLB is all about accountability, which is scores and
deadlines, with loss of $$ as the stick
• AZ, like other states, was facing big failure rates and
big costs as result of measuring stick
• AZ, like others, changed the measuring stick by arguing
what??
• Along the way, they also changed the deadline for
completing this diluted improvement

20. Story forms

21. Inverted Pyramid
Most important information
Next most important
Less important
Less important
Least important

22. Block
Overview / Central point
Sub-point 1
Sub-point 2
Sub-point 3
Summary

23. Layer Cake
Scene
Background
Scene
Background
Scene
Background
Scene
Background
Scene

24. Layer Cake
(3 – 2)
Scene
Background
Scene
Background
Scene

25. Wine Glass
Summary of entire story
Begins at the end
Segues to start
Start
Next
Next
Next
Next
Ending / Kicker

26. Alternative Story Forms
Formatted text Lists
Grids Quizzes
Annotated photos / maps Worksheets
Timelines Timelines
Q&As Photo stories
Charticle Glossaries

27. Exercise
Focus & frame your stories

28. Idea Report Organize Draft Revise
Story forms: Block, Layer Cake, Wine Glass