Week Twelve: The Min and Max Story

In today’s class we learnt about the idea of knowing your minimum and maximum story and were reminded to write and not ponder when working to deadlines – the industry’s pace-maker.

When tackling your story, decide early what your minimum story is – a story that answers the basic 5 W’s and H. Once you have sourced the minimum, pursue the maximum. The maximum is the dream story, with plot, setting, characters, dialogue, better talent with a more difficult how, why and greater depth. This seemed to be beneficial because even if you don’t land the maximum story the information will help the minimum story.

This idea could be applied to my “Full House” story. While pursuing my minimum story about the ‘crisis’ creating a generation of renters, one such renter mentioned a conversation she had had with a potential room mate about newlyweds. I’d stumbled across my dream story. I wanted to show the impact of the tight and expensive rental market on newly married couples, who cannot afford to rent a place and are needing people to move in with them. I could already envisage the headline, “You, Me and Dupree” and the lead would play on the wedding vows, ‘do you take….and also….”. But I couldn’t get in contact with the couple and thought the piece their quotes to anchor it. Minimum it is.