The Who, What, When, Where, Why of a Story (2024)

One of the best practices for writers is to follow "The5Ws"guideline, by investigating the Who, What, Where, When and Why of a story.

If you can’t identify what makes your story unique and interesting, chances are nobody else will either.

  • Who is driving the story? Who is it about? Who is affected? Who benefits? Who loses?
  • What has happened? What are the consequences? What does this mean for the reader?
  • Where is this taking place (building, neighborhood, city, country)? Where should readers go to learn more?
  • When did it happen (time of day, day, month, year)? When was the last update? When can you expect to learn more? When will the effects be felt?
  • Why did this event take place? Why is this important in the big picture? Why should readers care?
The Who, What, When, Where, Why of a Story (2024)

FAQs

The Who, What, When, Where, Why of a Story? ›

The 5 Ws are who, what, when, where, and why. These are all questions that a writer should be able to ask and answer while composing their work. If they are unable to answer any of these questions successfully, the writing may not be detailed enough, and readers may lose interest or fail to be persuaded.

What are the 5Ws in writing? ›

One of the best practices for writers is to follow "The 5Ws" guideline, by investigating the Who, What, Where, When and Why of a story. If you can't identify what makes your story unique and interesting, chances are nobody else will either.

What are the 5 W and H questions and answers? ›

When you have completed your analysis using the concepts discussed in the previous steps, you should ask whether it meets the test of a good newspaper story. Does it adequately answer the 5 W and one H questions: what, where, when, who, why, and how?

What are the 5Ws in research? ›

The "Five Ws" is a simple, easy-to-remember device to help you evaluate research sources. For any source you choose--including websites, news publications, books, magazines, journals, or other types of content--you can ask yourself: Who, What, Where, When, and Why?

What is an example of 5 Ws in a story? ›

The 5 Ws are who, what, when, where, and why. These are all questions that a writer should be able to ask and answer while composing their work. If they are unable to answer any of these questions successfully, the writing may not be detailed enough, and readers may lose interest or fail to be persuaded.

What is the 5W H plan for writing? ›

5Ws and 1H definition

The idea behind this method is that if you can identify the answers to these six questions, you should have a full version of events. These six questions are: what, why, when, where, who, and how.

What are the 5Ws problem solving tool? ›

The Five Ws and one H tool is easy to use. It can be used for lots of things including planning action and solving problems. The five Ws stand for the questions who, what, where, when and why, and the H stands for how.

What are the 5W's in reading? ›

Reviewing the five Ws (who, what, where, when and why) and an H (how) after reading a text can improve students' knowledge, understanding and memory of what they just read. This tactic encourages reflection and an analysis of the main idea.

What is the 5W1H method? ›

The 5W1H is a questioning approach and a problem-solving method that answers all the basic elements within a problem which are what, who, when, where, why, and how. It aims to view ideas from various perspectives and gain n an in-depth understanding of a specific situation.

What is the 5 W problem? ›

The 5 Whys Problem Solving technique is a simple process to follow to solve any problem by repeatedly asking the question “Why” (five times is a good rule of thumb), to peel away the layers of symptoms that can lead to the root cause of a problem. This strategy relates to the principle of systematic problem solving.

What is a 5 Ws problem statement? ›

What are the 5 components of a problem statement? In developing a problem statement, it helps to think like a journalist by focusing on the five Ws: who, what, when, where, and why or how.

What are the 5 Ws of source analysis? ›

The main part you must then focus on is the body of the essay, and this is where the 5 W's come in: Who, What, Where, Why, When. These will form the body of your analysis and will be stuctured as follows:Who: Who wrote the source?

What is the 5W1H framework? ›

The 5Ws and 1H Framework

The 5 W's and H Framework is a popular information-gathering and problem-solving approach. This framework comprises six questions, including Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How, which are fundamental in information-gathering.

What is a 5W1H sentence? ›

Otherwise known as the questioning method or the method of the Five Ws, 5W1H is an acronym in which every letter corresponds to a question: what, who, where, when, how and Why. This technique allows you to understand a situation, to discern a problem by analysing all the aspects.

How do you answer 5W and 1H in research? ›

5Ws and 1H definition

The idea behind this method is that if you can identify the answers to these six questions, you should have a full version of events. These six questions are: what, why, when, where, who, and how. The 5Ws and 1H framework is a super simple but seriously effective method for collecting information.

What are the 5 Ws of problem solving? ›

The five Ws stand for the questions who, what, where, when and why, and the H stands for how. When using the tool to help solve problems a useful order for the questions is: what, where, when, why, how, who. What is the problem? Where is it happening?

What is the 5 Ws of strategy? ›

So, here are my five Ws (who, what, when, where and why) of strategic planning. If you're just starting or have been doing this for quite some time, let it be a helpful tool for your team and organization.

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