Story Forms 1

• Overview: Coast to coast innovation
• A new generation of Web users
• Scanners' models
• Screen-size chunk model

Two desks away Taylor is experimenting with high-tech ways of producing stories with graphics and motion.  "Everything we know about online is different from print," he says. 

This 20-something Web designer represents a new generation.  He even shortened his name to a one-word click.  He prefers Web stories in small chunks of graphically charged information that he can choose in an order he pleases.  He can click from one Web page to another without losing a mental nanosecond of comprehension. 

"You grew up in a world of three channels on TV," he tells this 50-something writer.  "I grew up in a world of 80 channels."  He also grew up with video games, so multitasking -- switching from one task to another -- is just an extension of his childhood skills.  Add Taylor to proponents of nonlinear chunks of writing. 

In the middle of the country, John Caserta, Chicago Tribune's online Web designer, works on innovative storytelling packages.  Some tell a story with a screen of short text and photos. Others, like a series on classical music, depend on multimedia. 

"Design is communication of information in a clear way," Caserta says.  "Text is not always the best way to communicate it.  I think the traditional story should be questioned."Add Caserta to proponents of new writing models for the Web. 

And on the East Coast, a team of designers, photographers, writers and editors for The Philadelphia Inquirer Web site labored over a 29-part narrative serial about the battle of Mogadishu.  The series features multimedia and compelling writing like a novel with chapter endings in cliffhangers. 

A new generation of Web users
From coast to coast, online news sites are experimenting with new ways of storytelling on the Web.  And around the globe, the next generation of Web readers and writers is already rocketing through cyberspace to create inventive ways of conveying information. 

A million dollar-grant by the Advanced Network & Services in a "ThinkQuest" program for high school students throughout the world reveals their ability to create  Web packages that would humble most American online newspaper writers and designers. 

If most Web readers are only scanners now, the generation that is growing up with the Web could well become serious readers.  To limit our vision of writing forms for a current generation of scanners is short-sighted. 

So which form is best?  All of the above: the inverted pyramid for some hard news stories, serial narrative for others, screen-size chunks with links to different Web pages if stories have logical breaks, and scrolling stories for those that need a more linear presentation for comprehension.  Different forms for different functions. 

Howard Witt, associate managing editor for interactive news at the Chicago Tribune, says these innovative storytelling forms for the Web take a lot of time to produce. He says they work best on Web specials that have "shelf life" but aren't practical for daily news. 

But the models discussed here can be adapted for daily news stories on the Web with little more than a few copyediting adjustments and some nonlinear thinking.  Other models to be discussed will focus mostly on the writing styles rather than the interactive features and technical design. 

Scanners' Models
A study of 50 metropolitan daily online newspapers reveals that the majority present text in long strips of black rolls resembling toilet paper.  No subheads.  No bullets.  The lessons learned in print design have been ignored online.  In many online newspapers, the text spans the entire width of the screen, creating a torturous task for eye movement. A few, however, offer models that adhere to readability for scanners as well as thorough readers without requiring major adjustments in writing or design. 

Star Tribune online model: This Minneapolis online site uses topic subheads on most stories, unless they are very short, and bullets when appropriate for the story.  The online newspaper also places links to related items in a column on the side of the story at the top of the page and again near the end, making nonlinear navigation easy for readers without interrupting the flow of the story. 

American Journalism Review: Eric Meyer, a University of Illinois journalism professor and online consultant for his company, Newslink, has created an even simpler model for scanners in the American Journalism Review site he developed.  He highlights the first few words in a paragraph in boldface type periodically throughout the story to serve the same purpose as topic subheads. 

CNN model: CNN uses topic subheads on almost all stories but also frequently uses another technique for nonlinear readers: links at the top of the story that connect to the subheads on the same page.  Readers can scan information within the story or read in linear form without clicking on the topics. 

MSNBC model: This online site offers its lead in larger type to serve the same purpose as a summary subhead.  Then the reader can click to read the rest of the story on the same page or click on the links placed under the summary to related stories and resources.  This site also regularly uses topic subheads throughout the story. 

No attempt was made to test if one model is better than another. All of these forms follow readability guidelines supported by studies that show subheads and bullets help scanners move through copy. And all will enhance readability of text regardless of inverted pyramid or narrative writing style. 

Screen-size chunk models
Writing in screen-size chunks may facilitate scanners, but most of the sites using this technique are relying more on design than suitability of content to this form. 

When media critic Jon Katz wrote an online column for HotWired, it was presented in screen-size chunks. But the columns were still linear reading experiences.  You couldn't skip to screen 6 and still understand the column. 

The chunks often ended at no relevant  break in content.  The design, with a watermark on each screen to tell readers which one they are reading, is an innovative design, but it is not a new form of writing. 

However, HotWired editors say Katz's column was so popular that readers would click or scroll to follow his diatribes against the media. Katz has since become a columnist for The Freedom Forum, but his Hotwired columns are still online. 

For screen-size chunks to offer readers choices of nonlinear parts of the story, the pieces have to have coherent breaks.  Few daily news stories lend themselves to this treatment.  Since research is showing that readers will scroll content that interests them, chunk writing is often design for design's sake. 

Related sites in this section
These links will open in a separate window while this site remains on your screen so you can return to it at will. 

• Star Tribune
• American Journalism Review
• CNN
• MSNBC
• ThinkQuest $1 million contest winners
• Jon Katz's HotWired columns