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Story Structure

This document outlines and compares three common story structures used in journalism: 1) The inverted pyramid structure is best for breaking news stories and organizes facts in descending order of importance. 2) The hourglass structure begins with an inverted pyramid summary and then shifts to a chronological narrative of events for crime or disaster stories. 3) The kabob structure uses anecdotes from specific individuals bookending a general discussion of a trend to show real people's experiences.

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609 views1 page

Story Structure

This document outlines and compares three common story structures used in journalism: 1) The inverted pyramid structure is best for breaking news stories and organizes facts in descending order of importance. 2) The hourglass structure begins with an inverted pyramid summary and then shifts to a chronological narrative of events for crime or disaster stories. 3) The kabob structure uses anecdotes from specific individuals bookending a general discussion of a trend to show real people's experiences.

Uploaded by

api-278922691
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Story structure

Inverted Pyramid

Best for : News briefs, stories about breaking news


events.
Not recommended for: Anything else.
How it works: Summarize the key facts in a concise
lead. Then organize the story as logically as possible, arranging paragraphs in descending order
or importance. End the story when you run out of
facts (or you run out of room on the page).

The Hour Glass

Best for: Crimes, disasters or other dramatic news


stories where you want to include a chronology to
show how events unfolded.
How it works: Begin with an inverted- pyramid
summary of the storys most important facts. Once
thats done, shift into a chronological narrative.
(Try setting it up with a phrase such as Police gave
this account of the accident:) Then detail what happened, step by step. If possible, end with a kicker

Most Important facts


Additional Facts
More Facts
ETC, ETC
ETC

The lead
Key facts in inverted
pyramid form

Chronology of
events

(a surprise twist or strong closing quote).


Kicker

The Kabob

Also known as: The Wall Street Journal formula or


the circle.
Best for: Stories on trends or events where you want
to show how actual people are affected or involved.
How it works: The story begins with a quote or anecdote about a specific person. Then it broadens into
a general discussion of the topic. It ends by returning to that specific person again.
Think of it as arranging meat and veggies on a
shish kabob skewer: Start with a juicy red tomato
(an anecdote). Follow that with a nut graf. Then
add meat - chunk after chunk - until you read the
end, where you reprise with another tomato (a
final quote or anecdote).
The wall Street Journal is well known for writing stories this way. Some also view it as a circle
like the one at left.

Anecdote

Nut Graf
Meat
Meat
Meat
Anecdote

* Excerpt from Tim Harrowers Inside Reporting

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