wh5 vs whh

Who?

Where there’s smoke…
Bob: There is corruption, I’m sure.
Carl: Is there a provable link? Can you follow the money?
Bob: We’ll find it. Asking all the political questions: what, when, where, who and how.
Carl: Not the narrative question: why? 
Bob: Well, how is like why, isn’t it.
Carl: Not even close. "How" is modus operandi. "Why" is the reason explaining an event.
________
Voice-over
Questions reveal facts and drive a narrative. The basic ones are wh5 (what, when, where, who, why). Perhaps “how” should be spelt whow.

Dreams From My Father: Read like a writer

Tips from a writer…
Woodibee: I’m a speaker, not a writer, but I’ve been told to write a short story. A memoir about my father.
Writer-in-residence: Having problems?
Woodibee: Acute writer’s block. Can’t get started.
Writer-in-residence: Did you read someone else’s memoir? Like say, oh, Barack Obama’s “Dreams From My Father.”
Woodibee: I've read it. Nice piece of work. Barack’s a great writer as well as a speaker.
Writer-in-residence: So you read it one time, to get the feeling. Then you read it for the structure. See how the wh5 is put together.
Woodibee: wh5?
Writer-in-residence: The what, where, when, who and why leading to the conclusion. That’s not everything though. It’s a like telling a joke. You can’t just tell the punchline. Unveil the story a little at a time, always keeping something back. Keep the reader in suspense.
Woodibee: Character? Dialogue?
Writer-in-residence: These are important. First know the character. Craft a voice. Then the dialogue will flow.
________
Voice-over
Read like a writer. Deconstruct what you read. See the craft behind the art.

The Grammar of a To Do List

Organizing a day…

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Polly: Do you keep a diary?

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Annie: Nope. Used to. It made me think about keeping a regular habit. It made me practice writing. But then the act of writing every night became an end in itself. So now I just transfer the To Do tasks to an archive file.

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Polly: But a To Do list doesn’t read like a diary.

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Annie: No, more like a snapshot of a day in my life.

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Polly: What’s best language for writing to do lists?

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Annie: Personally, I note a start time, then location, people and describe the task beginning with a verb, then a noun. For example, 10:00: Room X203: panel members, present PPT Tokyo 2020.

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Polly: Do you need all that information?

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Annie: I don’t NEED to write all those, it just helps organize my thinking about a task.  “When” I need to do it, “where” I need to be, “who” is there, “what” I need to do, kicking off with an imperative verb, adding a noun phrase.

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Polly: Do you add any reason you’re doing these tasks?

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Annie: Not usually.

_________

Voice-over

“Why” is the ghost in the To Do machine. Unseen and generally unwritten. To Do Lists are something of a “wh4” creation.

...

Discussion about Discussion

From report to discussion…

Flora: In what order should you reveal the facts?

Discussant: What is the first question to be addressed. Topic first.

Who comes first?

Flora: And then?

Discussant: Details follow. Who? When? Where?

Flora: Yes?

Discussant: And then the why. The how. That’s when the news report blooms into a discussion.

__________________

Voice-over

Check the order of your questions. Let the discussions begin.

...

Graphing and Mapping 1812

Clément and Minard discuss Napoleon’s Russian campaign…

Clément: How would you tell the story?

Napoleon's losses on the
Russian Campaign 1812

Minard: Graph it. 
Months on the independent variable. Soldier deaths the dependent. Numbers are dramatic. Simple.

Clément: OK, so that’s the What, When, Who. What about the Where? Where does the where go?

Minard: Hmm.

Clément: And the whys? The temperatures, Moscow deserted, Berezina river crossing, these all decimated Napoleon’s army.

Minard: Oui. Comment à ce sujet? We use a line of decreasing size, east to west and back. Splits and rejoins. Dates plotted. Weather temperatures falling along the retreat.

Clément: Magnifique!
___________

Voice-over

Beginning from a simple account of numbers a story is built. And told on a graph.

Charles Minard did it brilliantly in 1869. He puts “art” in the chart.

Edward Tufte says it "may well be the best statistical graphic ever drawn."

See a short film about visual graphics at http://youtu.be/fp8gmYE8Xuo

What is your opinion about the design of visual graphics?

Figurative map of French Army losses
on the 1812 Russian Campaign

…

The wh5 of travel

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
Lao Tzu

Ego: Why must I travel? What does it benefit me?
Alter Ego: Adventure. (1)
Ego: Where do I have to go?
Alter Ego: An Alternative road. (2)
Ego: If I must go, then when is the best time to go?
Alter Ego: Anytime. (3)
Ego: What do I do on the way?
Alter Ego: Anything, but do observe. Observe closely. (4)
Ego: And who should I go with?
Alter Ego: Alone. Go alone, then you’re not left waiting around for anyone. (5)

_______________
Voice-over
wh5 is reversed.
Usually we question: who, what, where, when and why.
But this time, we go in reverse.
Why do we travel, where and when do we go, what do we do and finally, who do we go with?
Answers: Adventure, Alternative, Anytime, Anything, Alone.
Aaah! Accidental (?) Alliteration!


Sources:
(1) A ship in a harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are for. J. Shedd.
(2) Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by -  and it has made all the difference. Robert Frost.
(3) From the time I was a child, travel formed me as much as my formal education. David Rockefeller.
(4) A traveler without observation is a bird without wings. Moslih Eddin Saadi.
(5) The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready. Henry David Thoreau.
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