Crafting Solutions Stories

At its heart, solutions journalism is just good journalism. That said, solutions stories are often structured a little differently. Here are some key concepts to keep in mind; check out this page in our Basic Toolkit for more on solutions journalism models you can emulate.

• The tension in a solutions story is often the “How.” That’s different from the tension in traditional stories. How did this person/institution/place manage to accomplish something that others haven’t? How did they go from problem to response? What did they do differently? Even when the reader knows the outcome, they’ll keep going with the story to solve the “Howdunit.”
• Virtually all solutions stories contain some description of the problem. But unlike in traditional stories, the emphasis of the story is on how the problem is being addressed, not the problem itself. For this reason, solutions stories often lead with the response, not with the problem. 
• Solutions stories often show the response happening, using anecdotes and descriptions. What anecdote or description to lead with depends on what is freshest or best conveys the story’s point and hooks the reader.
• One common structure for a solutions story is chronological. The story takes characters from realizing there’s a problem, through building the response, to the outcome to date.
• All solutions stories have characters. The stories show the characters doing the work, but they use them a bit differently than traditional stories do. Traditionally, characters often provide quotes about their aspirations or beliefs. Over-reliance on these in solutions stories can sound like fluff or advocacy. Besides including quotes, a solutions story will often show a character in action: starting out with a new idea, confronting opposition, failing, succeeding.

How to teach this: Select several stories from the Solutions Story Tracker and ask your students to outline them, noting the structure of a “Howdunit,” where the problem comes in, how description adds to the story, and the role of the characters. Then discuss as a class how these aspects of the story help it accomplish the goal of solutions stories: centering the response and covering all the pillars.

Tip: Filter for stories by students (using “advanced search”) because they set an attainable standard. Try using written, audio and visual stories. What are the strengths of each for telling solutions stories?