How to write an ‘Inspire me’ article: a quick guide
This guide, written in collaboration with user needs evangelist Dmitry Shishkin, is part of a series on writing news stories based on the news needs approach
New to the user needs? It might be useful to check out this article first. We’ll be right here when you’re done.
Ready? Right-o. Let’s dive into how Inspire Me content works…Hold onto your hats.
So, what’s this user need ‘Inspire me’, anyway?
These are articles, videos, audio (content in general) that are uplifting, problem-solving, and optimistic. They’re the pieces about overcoming adversity or difficulty, showing that there’s more that’s possible that you’d think. Highlighting the good fight, social responsibility and
In solutions journalism, the ‘Inspire Me’ user need leads with a solution to a problem, rather than highlighting the problem itself. So, it’s about shifting the traditional news paradigm.
Why should you write ‘Inspire me’ pieces?
- They help you connect with younger audiences
Time and again research has shown that younger people struggle to connect with legacy media because they find it a bit…. Depressing. - They’re framed differently because they’re about problem solving
This isn’t to say they gloss over the hard facts, they just present them differently, and if your readers are suffering from content shock (and trust us: we all are to some extent), they’ll appreciate this different approach
When to write an ‘Inspire me’ story
- If a topic is particularly bleak, it can be useful to highlight a positive (or semi-positive) aspect of it.
- If you’re covering the news of a person achieving something, a background piece or interview can be useful.
- Check the comments. If you notice you have a lot of engagement but that a lot of readers have expressed sad, disappointed or negative feelings about an article, it might be your cue to follow up with an Inspire Me article
Getting started with an ‘Inspire me’ story
Start by asking these questions:
- Who is this news about? Where are they from, is there anything they have overcome?
- If the news is really bad, is there something you can create to put the event in perspective or a solution that’s worth devoting column inches to? Can you identify the humanity here? Are there any individuals whose stories are worth sharing?
- What role can the reader play in all this? What contribution, however small, can they make?
- Are there any proven solutions and evidence of this?
Useful formats for an ‘Inspire me’ piece
For a personal success story, the most typical format for an ‘Inspire me’ piece is a ‘first-person’ feature or a historical story, with lots of personal photographs and details.
If it’s solutions journalism, useful formats could be a Q&A or interview with someone, a longread, or an evidence-packed listicle.
A good ‘Inspire me’ headline
A good headline indicates to the reader what kind of story they’ll find. Is it a personal success story or a solution story? For this user need, it can be something like “How X overcame Y to become Z”, “Solving X: the first evidence”, “You can contribute too; it’s not too late to stop X”.
Great examples of ‘Inspire me’ pieces
- From poverty to power: top footballers who started with nothing
- 10 simple ways to act on climate change
- Coronavirus: 5 firms booming despite the lockdown
- This man has saved 12 endangered animal species from extinction
Dmitry’s pro-tip
Always remember that any type of inequality could become a useful base for an ‘Inspire me’ story. Go beyond what has happened and tell stories of people affected by a story, but never through a newsy angle. If you are a local or a regional player, then stories about notable citizens doing interesting things in the past (and that are still relevant in the present) is a good option, too.
