Using Chapters for Focus and Sales
Story research can feel like a rabbit hole. We begin digging into a topic and find lists of interesting angles and avenues. Or perhaps the story starts in a specific place, but when spending time with characters, it unravels and pulls us into a world we never knew.
For the curious, every lead seems like a goldmine, and the exploration is intoxicating. First instincts tell us to include everything, to make a huge project in which all of these parts can shine. But then the narrative bloats, the story loses focus, and the project grinds to a halt.
If we’re only aiming at producing one piece, whether it’s a film, article, or photo series, when we’re finished editing, we’ll only have one product to sell. Granted we can sell that one thing multiple times. But, there’s a better way…
As you see alternative or parallel narrative threads pop up during your research or reporting, make a note of them, and treat them as “chapters” under the overarching umbrella of your general theme.
For example, I spent a long time covering active shooter incidents in America. That was my umbrella topic - cultural reactions to mass murder. But it’s a massive issue that includes all manner of gun rights, political, and social elements.
As I dug deeper I could see multiple sub-themes, and began to approach them as separate stories, linked by a common subject. There was breaking news coverage of new attacks, the evolution of police training, armed teachers, virtual reality reconstructions, military medical techniques, new technology for civilian defense like bulletproof backpacks for kids or facial recognition cameras for schools. You get the picture, these sub-stories were endless.
Compartmentalizing our stories like this gives us constraints to work within, forcing us into narrative structure, and focused output. And our energy is managed in bite-sized chunks, so that we don’t lose momentum over a never-ending brief.
As we tick off chapter after chapter, we can present the work to our contact list in publishable sized packages that are easy to work with. Each chapter offers a slightly different message or framing from the last, that appeals to a new outlet or audience.
So, at the end, instead of having just one piece, we have multiple pieces, that can all be sold multiple times to multiple outlets and audiences.
Once we’re done publishing chapters, we have a long-term body of work on a topic. We can bring all of the chapters back together with some structure for an exhibition, a book, or a hour-long documentary.
Future chapters or spin-offs become easier to make, because long-term projects are much more attractive to grant funders, and often achieve buy-in from outlets who’re fans of previous work.
Over time we begin to become known for a particular topic, if there is regularity of coverage on an issue we’ll be known for making work around that issue, and outlets will seek you out when they want your style.