Creative Formats

A format is a way in which elements of a story (the rising tension) are structured in order to tell the story.  Many creators of content refer to the sequence of ingredients of a programme or piece of content as its unique “Format” for instance, the show “Big Brother” has a set number of elements that are replicated throughout the world as the show’s unique ‘Format’ – we will explore this secondary definition of format later. If the definition of story is “Something that happens to someone that teaches us something”, the definition of format would be the “ways in which a story can be told”. It refers more to the mechanics or layout of the story, than the story itself.  

The 10 formats are applicable to all communication, whether you are talking face-to-face, writing for print, or broadcasting via radio, television or online media such blogs, podcasts or videos. In the world of traditional and online media, the language used to describe the ways to tell stories and what makes the various types of formats unique, differs greatly. This is not only true from country to country but also among different broadcasters and content creators. Consider the words “Feature” or “Documentary”, both are used to explain a range of products.  

Whatever name you give them, there are essentially 10 ways stories can be presented to an audience. Each of the ten formats uses information or logic of the story in different ways. Some of the formats are good at presenting facts and information and some are poor at holding information. Some of the formats are particularly good at emotion and some are bad at holding emotion. The format that you choose should depend on what you want the audience to experience.

If you’d like to read more about the ten different formats, click on the file below.