A simple way to write better case studies
When writing case studies, there are certain vital steps to apply to ensure the information is easy to understand, factual and entertaining.
Let's unpick an example of a previous blog post I have written and what makes it an effective case study. Find the blog post here: https://thegreengorilla.co.uk/free-stuff/blog2/265-a-community-effort-rewilding-england-s-countryside-at-strawberry-hill
1. As you can see, it's not particularly complex, but it took me a long time to research the facts and ensure they were all backed up by solid data from reputable sources. Here are some of the resources I used to craft the story - I used more, this is just a sample:
https://www.wildlifebcn.org/strawberryhill
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/state-of-uk-woods-and-trees...
https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statis...
https://rfs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/7.-A-Brief-His...
https://www.gov.uk/environment/wildlife-habitat-conservation
2. I added a link to the drone images of the place to give it a concrete aspect. Don't discount using visuals to enrich your story and capture people's imagination.
3. There are many ways you can structure a story, but they all rely on one key element: the twist - a point of tension that disrupts the status quo - in my story, this is the paragraph introduced by "however".
For this story, I decided to loosely use the structure suggested by Donald Miller in his 2017 book Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen. Below you can see a schematic of it.
Can you guess which elements correspond in my story to the elements suggested in this image?
Now this is a fun exercise for you: think of one of the case studies you use in your day-to-day work and give it a little re-haul based on this framework. Any questions, send me a message and I will help you!
This article was originally written for the Green Gorilla weekly newsletter. If you liked it, subscribe to receive more articles like this and learn how to communicate sustainability better, how to be more productive without selling your soul to the work devil, and how to make an impact in the world. Here is the link: https://newsletter.thegreengorilla.co.uk/
This article was originally written for the Green Gorilla weekly newsletter. If you liked it, subscribe to receive more articles like this and learn how to communicate sustainability better, how to be more productive without selling your soul to the work devil, and how to make an impact in the world. Here is the link: https://newsletter.thegreengorilla.co.uk/