Crafting a narrative with a focus on data can be a very impactful form of storytelling. The ability to present data that resonates with an audience can significantly change the way a reader interprets a narrative. By weaving data into a story, complex information can become more relatable, memorable, and or impactful. 

Define Your Narrative

Readers are more likely to stay engaged if they understand what the aim of the article is. As a writer, before even gathering your data, you need to define a clear purpose or goal for your data narrative. 

Know Your Audience

As in all forms of writing, understanding your audience is critical to communicating a clear message. Who is your audience and what matters to them?

What is different about this form of writing is the inclusion of data. When writing you always want to make sure to appeal to the audience’s knowledge level, and it is no different when creating data visuals. What information is critical for them to understand before interpreting the visual? And what about the data supports my narrative?

Use data as evidence to back up the points you’re making. The numbers should serve to enhance your narrative, not overwhelm it. In an article, visuals designed for Wall Street traders should look different from the ones designed for Disney fans. Yet, the importance of those visuals can be equally as important to the overall message of the story. 

Visualization

In a world with so much misinformation, as ethical writers we have a responsibility to not mislead our audience. According to Edward Tufte author of Beautiful Evidence, “When we reason about quantitative evidence, certain methods for displaying, and analyzing data are better than others. Superior methods are more likely to produce truthful, credible, and precise findings.” In this piece, Tufte details two examples of real-world consequences as a direct result of visualization. 

When writing, choose charts or graphs that best represent your data. They should be clean, simple, and easy to interpret. Well-designed visuals can help your audience grasp your message quickly and remember it longer which will improve the overall impact of your narrative.