How to Write: Lifestyle Stories
Prison Journalism Project
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What is a lifestyle story?
Lifestyle stories might cover fashion, fitness fads, relationship tips, science and technology, entertainment, cooking and food, home design and gardening.
Stories in this category are newsworthy for at least two reasons: first, they inform readers of a novelty or oddity. What are the weird and wonderful things people are doing right now?
Second, lifestyle stories have the potential to impact readers’ daily lives. How might readers adopt these trends, tips or advice to enhance their day-to-day experiences?
Writing a lifestyle story for incarcerated people can help share ideas for better living inside.
About Time is also available for readers in the community, so lifestyle stories are interesting to those who may be unfamiliar with or curious about the daily lives of incarcerated people.
How do you write a lifestyle story?
- Start with an observation. Have you noticed people around you doing or talking about something interesting or new, for example is there a new program or food in the prison? Or have you or others started doing something new to get through the day, such as playing a new card game?
- Take detailed notes. It’s important to be specific. Include vivid details. Who is doing it? When did it start? How did it get bigger?
- Do some digging. Interview people who are doing it. Do research to find out more about its origins and how it may or may not be good/useful.
- Show, don’t tell. Your audience may not be familiar with what you’re describing. Be sure to include little stories and/or direct quotes to make the story come alive for your reader. Define any prison-specific language, concepts, places or objects for readers on the outside.
Some prompts:
Joy:
Prison is a dark place. But, in spite of the brutality, light sometimes finds its way inside. Tell us how people cultivate joy behind the walls. Write a list. Ask five people about what they do for fun in prison. What brings a smile to their faces? Record their answers, write up a short introduction, and submit your list to About Time.
Prison recipes:
Much of prison life revolves around ways to avoid eating prison food.
Send a recipe for meals, snacks and desserts that you make inside prison and tell us a story about them.
This might be about how you came to create this recipe or memories of the dish outside that you were trying to replicate. Or it could be about an occasion that you enjoyed this dish. If you are an artist, include an illustration of the dish or a scene showing an occasion where it was served.
Or:
Compile a top-10 list of your peers’ favorite meals to eat inside.
Pros and cons:
Write about the pros and cons of an item, an educational/rehabilitative program, or another aspect of prison.
Start with an introduction that explains how your topic of choice is relevant to you and other incarcerated people. Follow that with three points that are good about it, and three points that are bad. Incorporate personal stories.
Sports:
Write a feature story about the sports culture at your institution. What sports are played? Are there organised competitions? What kind of attention do they attract? What are the athletes’ different relationships to each other and to the various sports? What’s something about sports on the inside that might surprise people on the outside? Interview athletes and spectators about the culture of sports in your prison, and write a story that includes scenes from games and quotations.
What is a lifestyle story?
Lifestyle stories might cover fashion, fitness fads, relationship tips, science and technology, entertainment, cooking and food, home design and gardening.
Stories in this category are newsworthy for at least two reasons: first, they inform readers of a novelty or oddity. What are the weird and wonderful things people are doing right now?
Second, lifestyle stories have the potential to impact readers’ daily lives. How might readers adopt these trends, tips or advice to enhance their day-to-day experiences?
Writing a lifestyle story for incarcerated people can help share ideas for better living inside.
About Time is also available for readers in the community, so lifestyle stories are interesting to those who may be unfamiliar with or curious about the daily lives of incarcerated people.
How do you write a lifestyle story?
- Start with an observation. Have you noticed people around you doing or talking about something interesting or new, for example is there a new program or food in the prison? Or have you or others started doing something new to get through the day, such as playing a new card game?
- Take detailed notes. It’s important to be specific. Include vivid details. Who is doing it? When did it start? How did it get bigger?
- Do some digging. Interview people who are doing it. Do research to find out more about its origins and how it may or may not be good/useful.
- Show, don’t tell. Your audience may not be familiar with what you’re describing. Be sure to include little stories and/or direct quotes to make the story come alive for your reader. Define any prison-specific language, concepts, places or objects for readers on the outside.
Some prompts:
Joy:
Prison is a dark place. But, in spite of the brutality, light sometimes finds its way inside. Tell us how people cultivate joy behind the walls. Write a list. Ask five people about what they do for fun in prison. What brings a smile to their faces? Record their answers, write up a short introduction, and submit your list to About Time.
Prison recipes:
Much of prison life revolves around ways to avoid eating prison food.
Send a recipe for meals, snacks and desserts that you make inside prison and tell us a story about them.
This might be about how you came to create this recipe or memories of the dish outside that you were trying to replicate. Or it could be about an occasion that you enjoyed this dish. If you are an artist, include an illustration of the dish or a scene showing an occasion where it was served.
Or:
Compile a top-10 list of your peers’ favorite meals to eat inside.
Pros and cons:
Write about the pros and cons of an item, an educational/rehabilitative program, or another aspect of prison.
Start with an introduction that explains how your topic of choice is relevant to you and other incarcerated people. Follow that with three points that are good about it, and three points that are bad. Incorporate personal stories.
Sports:
Write a feature story about the sports culture at your institution. What sports are played? Are there organised competitions? What kind of attention do they attract? What are the athletes’ different relationships to each other and to the various sports? What’s something about sports on the inside that might surprise people on the outside? Interview athletes and spectators about the culture of sports in your prison, and write a story that includes scenes from games and quotations.
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