storytelling - 4: starting the story
Would you expect an official report to begin like this?
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 – dawned temperate and nearly cloudless in the eastern United States. Millions of men and women readied themselves for work. Some made their way to the Twin Towers, the signature structures of the World trade Center complex in New York City. Others went to Arlington Virginia, to the Pentagon. Across the Potomac River, the United States congress was back in session. At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, people began to line up for a White House tour. In Sarasota, Florida, President George W Bush went for an early morning run.
For those heading to an airport, weather conditions could not have been better for a safe and pleasant journey. Among the travellers were Mohammed Atta and Abdul Aziz al Omari, who arrived at the airport in Portland, Maine.
This is the start of the 9/11 Commission report. It's as gripping as a novel - it has atmosphere, tension, and reads well. It not only shows that a formal report doesn't have to be dully written, it neatly sets the scene for the inquiry itself, signalling to the reader that although everyone thinks they know what happened that day, this report is going back to the very beginning, taking nothing as read.
Not every story can start like that - but ask yourself: would you have the nerve to write about formal matters in as compelling a style?
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 – dawned temperate and nearly cloudless in the eastern United States. Millions of men and women readied themselves for work. Some made their way to the Twin Towers, the signature structures of the World trade Center complex in New York City. Others went to Arlington Virginia, to the Pentagon. Across the Potomac River, the United States congress was back in session. At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, people began to line up for a White House tour. In Sarasota, Florida, President George W Bush went for an early morning run.
For those heading to an airport, weather conditions could not have been better for a safe and pleasant journey. Among the travellers were Mohammed Atta and Abdul Aziz al Omari, who arrived at the airport in Portland, Maine.
This is the start of the 9/11 Commission report. It's as gripping as a novel - it has atmosphere, tension, and reads well. It not only shows that a formal report doesn't have to be dully written, it neatly sets the scene for the inquiry itself, signalling to the reader that although everyone thinks they know what happened that day, this report is going back to the very beginning, taking nothing as read.
Not every story can start like that - but ask yourself: would you have the nerve to write about formal matters in as compelling a style?
posted by stoneperson at 22:44
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