Don’t bring me a story. Bring me an angle.

One of many dilemmas that students may face when writing is: ‘What do I write about?’

For example, you might set a student the task of writing about a sporting game they played at the weekend. But through the eyes of that young person that game was a matter-of-fact happening, or too much or too little happened to make a story. We played Easts and beat them 3-2 nil and Joe scored all three goals and it was a good game. What else can I say? It is here that one of the most important rules of journalism may be useful. That is, ‘Don’t bring me a story, bring me an angle.’ If we take the football (soccer) game as an example, help your student look for something within the game from which a story may be built. Maybe those goals that Joe scored happened in the space of just three minutes, and those minutes just happened to be the last three of the game. Or perhaps Easts hadn’t lost a game all season and Joe’s team hadn’t won one. Suddenly there are great angles to explore and the story leaps to life: ‘When Joe Smith turned up to play his Under 12 football match for The Northern Stars against Easts, he could never have dreamed of what would follow. He was playing his fourth season with the Stars, and was yet to score a goal, but in the space of three unbelievable minutes, Joe became the hero of his team. And the goals rained down!’

Remember the toolkit: who, what, where, why, when and how. Keep encouraging your students to dig deep.

If your students are older, perhaps you could examine and discuss with them an online news site.  Ask them to identify the angles that journalists have presented in their stories. This video clip might also stimulate ideas.

Don’t bring me a story, bring me an angle.