Paul Mundy Writing cases Stories that illustrate a project or problem

What is a case? A case tells a story  About a project, experience, problem or person  Focuses on one or more aspects  Shows success (or failure)  Gives reasons for success (or failure)  Give insights, helps understanding  Self-contained, can be understood by itself  Length: 1 paragraph to 10 pages

Why write cases? Document activities (institutional memory) Tell others about your experience (sharing) Learn from your experience (monitoring, evaluation) Generate funding Gain public attention

Considerations Part of a series or a book? Guidelines from the boss/headquarters? Submit to a journal or magazine? Who is the audience? What are your communication objectives? How long should the case be? What type of structure? What type of language?

Steps in writing a case 1. Develop story ideas 2. Collect the information 3. Focus the topic – what is the story about? 4. Organize the information Outlining Writing the lead 5. Write a draft 6. Rework the draft

1 Develop story ideas What interesting things have happened in your project? What problems do people in your area face? What topics interest your audience? What topic is in the news now? What issue does your organization want to focus on? What new things do you have to say?

2 Collect information Read, ask questions, observe Soak up information like a sponge Make notes Think of interesting angles while you are gathering information

3 Focus the topic What am I trying to say? Discuss the subject with someone  Tell him/her a story  Explain what happened  Give only the information the listener needs to understand

3 Focus the topic Imagine you are in a lift with Bill Gates  What would you tell him about your project?  What is the most important thing to say?  You have 2 minutes!

What we start with A pile of disorganized information

3 Focus the topic What is the story about? Main idea to which all other ideas relate

What we want to end up with Evidence Focus Lead A carefully constructed story with evidence supporting our main idea

Steps in writing a case 1. Develop story ideas 2. Collect the information 3. Focus the topic – what is the story about? 4. Organize the information Outlining Writing the lead 5. Write a draft 6. Rework the draft

Writing Focus  What is the story about? Lead  How will the story begin? Organization  What information is included?  How is it presented?

When you have finished writing Have you said it well enough? Reread what you have written  Is it in the right order?  Is it interesting? Does it grab the reader’s attention?  Does it say anything new or useful?

When you have finished writing Ask someone else to read it  Ask them to be critical of the structure, organization, logical flow  Ask them if the piece is interesting, easy to read  Ask them what they learned after reading

Now develop your own story idea What interesting thing has happened in your project? What problem do people in your area face? What topic interests your audience? What topic is in the news now? What issue does your organization want to focus on? What new thing do you have to say?