A great writer is often a great sleuth.
What I mean is: Talented writers have a gift for sifting through large swaths of information and finding an interesting kernel that would make for a great story.
Developing this skill is part of most journalists' training; it goes beyond the basic “who, what, where, when, why, how” that help them nail down the essentials of the story they’re trying to tell.
To find a great story angle, you need skills outside the realm of writing. Skills like:
Critical and creative thinking
Ability to research strategically
Question-asking
If you’d like to improve at this, here are a few tips to help you identify and develop strong story angles.
1. Follow your curiosity.
Great storytelling is typically the product of a writer following his or her natural interests, which is why it’s important to tune into your naturally curious brain when thinking about a topic idea.
“It has to be fun for you before it’s entertaining for anyone else.”
When you’re excited about a topic, writing about it won’t feel like work. Instead, it’ll feel more like you’re just explaining something you care about to a close friend. (This is what we should all strive for when writing, yes?)
As you start to formulate an idea and do research, prompt yourself with questions like these:
What pieces of this topic haven’t been explored yet?
What new data or research can I synthesize to illustrate a new point?
How does the topic relate to the current moment and/or pop culture?
What’s your unique perspective or point of view on the topic you’d like to make a case for?
Try to tackle your subject from a fresh, new angle. Make sure to do your homework, find out what’s already been covered, and then bring something new to the conversation. If you approach angle development through the lens of curiosity, you can truly add to the existing dialogue around your topic (rather than simply re-hash what’s already been said.)
Further reading + additional prompts: Habits of Mind: The Questions Intelligent Thinkers Ask that Help Them Solve Problems and Make Decisions
2. Conduct interviews.
Having real conversations with experts on your chosen topic is a great way to organically discover interesting sidebars, tidbits, and lesser-known facts. Go into these conversations with a set of questions, but then allow yourself to follow whatever interesting threads present themselves.
For this to work, your interviews need to be real-time. I don’t mean to send an email with your questions. No! Pick up the phone, meet someone face-to-face, or do a Zoom call.
Having these conversations in real-time allows you to “double-click” on questions as they arise. Actively listen as you record the conversation, take notes, and allow yourself to dive deeper when natural questions are prompted in your mind. (There are no stupid questions here; ask them all.)
Further reading + additional resources: How to Write Like a Journalist
3. Be flexible.
This may be the most important piece of the puzzle here: You need to be willing to be flexible with your angle. While you may go into research thinking you’re clear on how you’ll tackle the topic, your research and interviews may take you in a completely new direction (and that’s okay.)
Example: I once conducted an interview with a footwear brand, thinking the story was going to be about their product design. However, during our chat, I learned they had an interesting approach to returns and sizing issues: They automatically sent all customers two pairs of the same shoes but in their normal size and the next half size up or down, based on where the customer usually fit size-wise.
The customer then returned the pair that didn’t fit as well and kept the one that did. This was a way more interesting angle than just talking about the product, so I scrapped that and went all-in on the unique returns strategy.
The lesson: Listen, be willing to adapt, and always follow the most compelling thread you find while researching. You may discover an angle you weren't expecting along the way.
