Putting it into words

While immersive-style stories online are often media-rich experiences, the 'immersive' experience is usually made up of a series of parts – and in most cases includes text in one form or other.

Looking at just some of the stories we’ve seen created with Shorthand Pro, that can range from fairly in-depth long-form writing, to more concise, shorter text.

And so, just like decisions over how to use the visual elements of your story to enhance the experience and storytelling, thinking about how you can best deliver the text-part of your narrative for the benefit of the overall story engagement is also an important consideration.

That's not to suggest that there is only one type of approach which is always superior. The right tone, length of narrative and angle of subject are just some of the many story-specific decisions to be made, and a variety of styles have proven to result in fantastic immersive experiences.

But there are some more general tips that are worth considering, to help you take advantage of opportunities to boost engagement, better communicate meaning and improve the overall experience in how you use text within the story.

Here are some of our observations, as well as some useful insight from the British Council, who kindly shared some of their findings from recent user testing of their Shorthand-style stories.

Please let me know of anything else you’d add to the list: you can tweet me @rachelabartlett or us @Shorthand_.

TIP #1: SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE

One of the key elements of immersive-style stories online is that they bring together not just a range of media styles, but also in some cases, particularly bigger projects within organisations, a range of skillsets and departments.

And so it's helpful if the writer(s) on the project are involved from the start in conversations about the story and its main aims / goals, insight into the application in which the story's to be created – for which there may be specific tips and features of note – and crucially, that they have a clear understanding of the visual media planned for use (or to be created) for the story.

In some cases it may be that an image tells the story better than words could, or that a specific image or video would be made even more meaningful, or engaging, with the inclusion of a key quote, or other text.

The earlier you can seek out such opportunities to add depth to the visuals with some carefully-chosen text, the better.

And an integrated approach to the production, will help ensure a more integrated feel to the end experience. Consider, for example, the marriage of headline and background media, in this story by Global Witness.

TIP #2: ESTABLISH A CLEAR STRUCTURE

The advice we often give in the early stages of planning a Shorthand story – and this has also been a tip shared by others – is to start by breaking the story down into clear sections, whether they are chapters or just key parts of your narrative.

And chapterising longer-form stories, particularly those stories which require the reader to engage for a significant amount of time, can help keep the reader informed of where they are in the journey as they move through the story.

If the text narrative has an equally clear structure, it will help when the elements come together (which should be done as soon as possible).

It's also worth noting the power of an in-story navigation menu where available. These are great for not only informing the reader of what's to come, and give them an idea of the length of a story, but also to keep them engaged, especially if the nav is clearly identifying a reason to get to the end.

So if using navigational features, consider how the wording can add to the likely engagement, such as through curiosity or the promise of a conclusion.

And when planning out your narrative, remember the mobile experience. Given the smaller screen, consider any tweaks to the way your text is delivered that may benefit mobile readers who will be scrolling for longer through larger chunks of text, or have a smaller screen on which to view chapter headings / key quotes.

TIP #3: THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM (OR READER'S ATTENTION IN THIS CASE...)

As engagement is going to be highest at the point of entry, ensuring the first screen of the story page is doing everything it can to hook the reader in is important – from a text perspective, this might include the wording of the headline, use of the standfirst to add interest, and even something as simple as instructing the reader to 'scroll down'.

The British Council found "many readers did not realise they had to scroll down to find out more", Ann Hutchings, digital content manager explained, so they will now always have "visual clues for the reader".

It's also another argument for making the most of the in-story navigation to start 'selling' the rest of the story from the start.

The British Council also advises its content creators to ensure the vital information is near the top of the story. So a story about an event, for example, should have "the dates and locations are clearly stated at the top of the article", Ann added. They also require reference to opportunities for the reader to engage on social to be placed high in the story.

TIP #4: RE-HOOK THE READER WITH KEY SNIPPETS

In any story, quotes are a powerful way to offer not just first-person opinion, but in many cases add emotion, meaning and in some cases (where appropriate) intensity. So highlighting key quotes not only amplifies their importance, but grabs the attention of the reader to pull them back into the narrative.

In fact the British Council found in their research that "quotes kept the reader interested and wanted to see more".

In some cases a pull-quote can even be taken out of the 'general flow' of the body text, and delivered alone on the screen. This is something we've seen in action already by those using Shorthand – see this story by ABC, for example, which does so on a couple of occasions – and when it's used to add to the storytelling, the effect can be powerful. Such quotes should be as concise as possible, to avoid reducing the impact of the screen by jamming in too much text – again, remember the mobile experience here too.

Similarly adding chapters and headers at logical stages throughout the narrative also helps to re-engage the reader, while key facts and figures can also be pulled outside of standard body-text to help put a spotlight on them for the reader.

TIP #5: KEEP THE NARRATIVE FOCUSED

While you may be using a more immersive-style treatment, to possibly also deliver a longer-form piece of writing, it is still important to ensure that no matter how long the story, the narrative should maintain a clear flow, and focus. Trying to tackle a huge subject just 'because it's an immersive-style story', could cause your reader to get lost, or at least lose attention – in either case, it's a recipe for drop-off.

Ensure you're making clear decisions around what the story is, how this treatment can help add to the storytelling, and make every image and piece of text, earn its place.

Don't be tempted to use it as a dumping ground – whatever the story, whether it's an investigative feature, a celebrity profile, a top 10 list, an annual report, ensure there's a clear flow, focused narrative, and not adding text just because there's space – it needs to be an important part of the narrative otherwise you risk losing your reader.

And therefore while there is a certain level of 'thinking differently' required when creating a more immersive story experience – you may be employing different workflows, working with different people, and different types of media than you have before – it's also important to keep the foundations of good storytelling close to hand, including the ability to be strict with what text gets included, and what gets cut.

There are plenty of distractions for the reader online, so your text, just like the visual media you may use, needs to make it impossible for them to break their gaze by staying focused to the subject at hand.

One strategy from this previous Insights post, was whether you can easily sum up the story in a short sentence? If not, you may want to take another look. 

TIP #6: BE FLEXIBLE TO CHANGE

One thing to bear in mind is that things can change – particularly once all the elements are brought together on the page. You may need to reconsider a chapter heading, or perhaps the structure needs to change and your text narrative will be moved around as a result. It may even be that the decision is taken to replace some text with a standalone visual.

So when producing the text for your story, be prepared to adapt once you start to see the elements come together, and the story take shape across devices. And if you're the writer, be prepared to criticise your own work once you see it as part of a multimedia project.

TIP #7: INSTRUCT ENGAGEMENT THROUGH CALLS TO ACTION

Consider what you want the story to achieve: do you want to inspire someone to do something? If so, don't just use images to do so – there's nothing more direct that a text instruction.

And not just early on in the story – also consider how you will end your story. In Shorthand, stories sit on their own webpage, so to cut your story off at the end of the main body-text narrative may leave your reader wondering what to do next. Are they going to return to your site, or are they going to move elsewhere?

This is something the British Council flag to their content creators too, suggesting "a strong call to action at the end of the page, so the user knows where to go next." See this example from the British Council, which encourages social media engagement, and links to additional information at the end of the page.

Also, if necessary, consider any points elsewhere in the story where you may need to guide the reader through (without interrupting the flow of the narrative).

TIP #8: AN ENGAGING NARRATIVE DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THOUSANDS OF WORDS

When you're producing the text content for your story, the subject of length is likely to come up fairly early on, once you've established the main sections of the story and considered the media available.

And it's one that's difficult to advise on from a general standpoint, as it's such as story-specific matter.

Having said that, it's clear that the answer is not to simply always conclude that more is better.

This is why it's important for anyone involved in creating such a story – whether a team of 1 or 10 – has a good understanding of what the essence of the story is, what visuals are available, what the aim of a more immersive, interactive media-rich treatment is to achieve, and what sort of end experience you're looking to deliver – as this can then help guide what's required from the text.

Image credit: Lightbulb at the beach, Basti V, Flickr. Some rights reserved.

If you're interested in using Shorthand to create more engaging, media rich stories, find out more here about Shorthand Pro, our application for organisations, or Shorthand Social, our tool for individuals.