Great stories surround us. Writers excavate, reveal, and polish them. For Bob Woodward, great stories expose the abuse of governmental power...theft, misallocation of funds, betraying the public trust, treason. The public's need to know balances against the perpetrators' need to conceal or discredit.
We have great stories within us. Propriety, fear of retaliation, uncertainty, and other factors prevent more revelations.
Sports has great stories of intrigue, subterfuge, and betrayal. Tonya Harding and Lance Armstrong crossed lines to win. "Whatever it takes." BC basketball had a point-shaving scandal in the late 1970's. NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to federal charges centered around gambling on games he officiated.
Adhere to core principles in telling your story. Bob Woodward is the foremost investigative journalist of our time. In his MasterClass he shares his methods including some of his tapes. You're not misquoted in tapes. During one presidential interview he emphasizes, "I want to get it right." You get it right using human sources, tapes, and documents with corroboration when documents are unavailable or a sole source is questionable.
Documents are out there.
Woodward describes, the "treacherous curtain of deference" surrounding powerful people. Journalists seek a peek inside the curtain."A source within blah-blah-blah" reports bibbidi-bobbidi-boo" because they want anonymity yet feel information needs sharing.
Great journalists like Woodward don't just find stories. They probe "inside the mind" of their subjects to understand their motivation. Share the what, the how, and the why.
Bank robber Willie Sutton denied saying, "that's where the money is." He responded, “Why did I rob banks? Because I enjoyed it. I loved it. I was more alive when I was inside a bank, robbing it, than at any other time in my life.
Many coaches maintain a cloak of secrecy around their program and methods. How many of us actively expose who we are and what we do, warts and all? Kentucky coach John Calipari comes closer than most.
“Nobody makes a big deal out of it when baseball players turn pro right out of high school. I don’t remember an uproar when Tiger Woods left Stanford for the PGA Tour. Neither Bill Gates nor the late Steve Jobs made it all the way through college. We’ve had swimmers turn pro and pass up college.”
― John Calipari, Players First: Success from the Inside Out
Calipari goes to church every day. My late Irish grandfather would simply say, "he needs to."
Writers illuminate truths. Woodward often says information is "close to the bone," meaning emotionally hurtful truth. Cheating to win, crossing ethical boundaries bares an individual's true nature.
Where is a story's center of gravity ? Expressions abound regarding turning points, "the die is cast" about Caesar's crossing the Rubicon, or a "Minsky moment" where risk becomes collapse.
Woodward advocates the "Rule of Six" where stories convey at least six important messages.
Learn from exceptional actors around us. When we understand the messenger well, we may be slower to dismiss the message.
Lagniappe:
Signature moves apply to teams, style of play, and individuals. John Wooden's UCLA Bruins had the 2-2-1 press and the UCLA cut offense. Everyone knows the Princeton Offense. Georgetown had a devastating man-to-man press as their style of play. Abdul-Jabbar had the Sky Hook and we remember the McHale Move, Olajuwon Dream Shake, Iverson crossover, Sikma Move, Pierce step-back, and so on. Here's a brief video on the Westbrook split pick-and-roll.