Here is a story that we workshopped from start to finish during one of our weekly Visual Storytelling Workshops that I conduct with the team of Long Island’s Newsday.
Written by Laura Albanese, with illustrations by Neville Harvey, this story was published April 15, 2021, designated Jackie Robinson Day in memory of one of baseball’s best players ever, explores why there aren’t more Black people in baseball’s top positions, and what the game can do to fix it.
Workshopping the story
Every Tuesday for one hour I join a team of Newsday editors, writers, designers for us to discuss mobile storytelling. Writers pitch their stories, and we then follow the various steps to make sure those stories get published.
When Laura Albanese pitched her story, we could tell by her voice that she was enthusiastic and knew the important content of the story. Next we talked about visual possibilities, including video clips as you see in the finished product, as well as those fabulous illustrations by Neville Harvey. The cooperation between the writer and the illustrator here was excellent and I saw first hand how the two interacted.
Key points during the workshopping of the story:
- How should the story be structured? My advice was to emphasize segments.
- What would be the role of video? There was a key video segment from legendary player Jackie Robinson which sets the tone for the story.
- How to best use the illustrations? Tip: Use the visual language of the illustrations to advance the story’s segments.
- What are the most shareable aspects of the story? Bring those up to the headline, deck and early in the story.
- How would the story appear in print?
Read the story here:
Our mobile storytelling workshops now available remotely
Professors: get your review version of The Story on time for fall classes
As an academic, I know the importance of having the right tools to advance our students, especially on the important subject of mobile storytelling. Please drop me an email if you would like to sample The Story in its digital edition: mario@garciamedia.com
Start writing or type / to choose a block
The full trilogy of The Story now available–3 books to guide you through a mobile first strategy. Whether you’re a reporter, editor, designer, publisher, corporate communicator, The Story is for you! https://amazon
TheMarioBlog post # 3307