Starting with a large, vague concept often brings an initial rush of excitement: there is so much to say! A big subject like local transport, student life, online learning, or city events can feel like a fun place to start your writing process. But then you actually begin writing, and the difficulty starts to show: where does this story begin? What facts or quotes should be the lead? What details should you leave out, because there are just too many? How do you know when you are finally done reporting? A good, reportable topic is small enough, and sharp enough, that it makes it easy to find sources, prepare interview questions, and know when to stop reporting. A reportable topic is a good story angle.
The story angle is the exact question your report is trying to answer. Instead of thinking, I want to write about public transport in general, start with a question like, How does a newly opened bus route in the town centre affect morning commute times for student riders? Instead of thinking, I want to write about online learning, start with a question like, How do first-year students take and organize digital notes when some classes are recorded? Now, you can report.
You can see, by these examples, that good story angles tend to do three things. The first is naming a specific group: morning commuter students, first-year students. The second is naming a specific change or problem: a new bus route in the town centre, having to take notes during online classes. The third is naming why we should care: because it will improve students’ morning commute times, because it will improve students’ organization during online learning.
You don’t have to make it exciting. In fact, it’s often better if the article doesn’t seem exciting at all, but that excitement is built into the reporting process. Don’t add drama to the headline, or to the lead. The smaller promise will be better: “How a new bus route in the town centre improves students’ morning commute times” is easier to research than “Local bus transport: a look at the current situation.” “How first-year students take and organize notes when classes are recorded” is easier to research than “Online learning: what students are saying now.” These angles tell you immediately who to interview, what to observe, which facts to confirm, and where to begin looking for more detail.
Before writing, take a few minutes to write down the big topic you have in mind at the top of your paper notebook or digital notes app. Below that, write three narrower topics: try writing a short question that your reporting might answer, or try writing a shorter topic idea. Then ask yourself: could I get at least one source for this? Could I get at least one observable detail for this? Could I get at least one fact to check for this?
If the answer to these questions is “no, probably not,” then the topic idea might still be too large. If the answer to these questions is “yes,” then you have begun building your list of sources and your plan for reporting. You might think this is a small thing to do, but this small exercise alone can save a lot of time later. You will avoid spending valuable field time taking notes and interviewing people, only to find out that the notes won’t come together when you try to put together your story. It also helps when you start taking more detailed notes on your interview questions: you will be clearer about what you are actually hoping to report at the end.
Your questions will also be better if your idea or story question is clearer: if you’re thinking you want to do a story on student jobs, then you’ll ask some general questions of your interviewees and might receive more general answers in return. But if you’re thinking you want to do a story on how weekend shifts affect first-year students and their ability to keep up with assignment deadlines, your questions will be more specific, too: how many hours students work each week, where their shifts happen, how much time they miss while studying for their courses and their exams, their habits when preparing their assignments, and how they handle it when the weekend shift and the final essay are all due at the same time. These answers are also more likely to produce quotes from your interviewees, which is good.
A reportable story question will also help you stay closer to the central fact, especially for your lead. Often when beginners start a long article and don’t include the fact or central idea until late in the story, it’s because the reporter hasn’t made the story idea clear for themselves yet, even before writing or reporting begins. A reportable topic, a reportable story question, helps you decide on that central fact before you ever start writing. And it also helps you know which details you might want to leave out as you write: extra facts you learned but don’t need, quotes you took but don’t really support your argument, or side-stories you heard during the reporting process but don’t fit the report well. You can save these as notes, but you should keep your story question front and centre when you start to draft.