






































       V38 N2 / 2023 

©2023 American Medical Writers Association. All rights reserved.  
ISSN 2163-5315

AMWAJournal.org     51

Speaker
Crystal R. Herron, PhD, ELS
Managing Director, Redwood Ink, San Rafael, CA

By Allie Boman
Stories make your writing stronger and your message more 
engaging. Dr Crystal R. Herron uses tools and mindsets 
rooted in scientific observation to make her case for story-
telling as the backbone of an effective manuscript.

STORIES TAP INTO THE POWER OF CURIOSITY—
AND LOVE
Stories stimulate the production of love hormones. We feel 
good when we read, watch, or hear stories from others—the 
mechanism of this good feeling is greater levels of oxyto-
cin. Leveraging the power of storytelling at every level of our 
writing helps us to connect with readers, engaging them and 
helping them remember what we said.
 Data are like Lego building blocks, Dr Herron pointed 
out. Raw data are like a pile of Legos—it’s all there, but it’s 
a mess. We might sort these data by color so they’re a little 
easier to understand. Then we might present the data in a 
logical way, organizing the stacks of color by height. Now 
imagine those blocks rearranged into a Lego house, com-
plete with a colorful front door and bordered with flow-
ers. A house with personality invites questions (Who lives 
there? Will a little Lego guy walk out the front door soon?). 
Storytelling generates curiosity.

USING THE STACR STRUCTURE TO STRENGTHEN 
MANUSCRIPTS
Although variations abound, engaging stories tend to follow 
a similar structure, abbreviated as STACR (which ties in well 
with the Legos illustration!). Dr Herron explained this struc-
ture and how to use it to keep readers reading. She also gave 
examples for applying these ideas to a medical manuscript 
and mapping STACR onto the standard IMRaD (introduc-
tion, methods, results, and discussion) structure.

S = Setup 
• Who are the characters in this story? (proteins, com-

pounds, disease state, device)

• Where or in what setting does the story take place? 
(proteins within a particular cell, disease that affects  
a certain organ, patients in a hospital or outpatient 
location)

• What problem(s) surround the characters? (prev-
alence of the disease, previous devices that proved 
insufficient, no drug available)

T = Tension 
• What do the characters need to accomplish? How can 

they solve the problem you set up? (disease progres-
sion needs to be slowed; gene mutation may change 
protein function) 

• What question do you answer in this story? (Does this 
drug have fewer side effects than others available? 
Does this device work better?) 

• How does this tension connect with the problem from 
your Setup section? (Making this connection helps to 
engage readers’ curiosity.)

A = Action
• What happens to address the questions raised in the 

Tension section? (What methods were used)? 
• How did the characters respond to a change in the set-

ting? (What were the results?) 

C = Climax
• Did the characters answer the question? (What were 

the key findings and how did they answer the ques-
tions posed?)

• How will readers’ curiosity be satisfied? (Refer to ele-
ments raised in the Tension section.)

R = Resolution
• How have the characters and setting changed as a result 

of the action? (How does this work advance the field?)
• What value does this story offer? Why does it matter? 

(What is the significance of the study?)

 Writing a manuscript using STACR helps readers  
understand the importance of your work and use what 
they’ve read.

Session Report 
The Backbone of Manuscripts: Supporting Your Writing With Storytelling

CONFERENCE

http://www.amwajournal.org


AMWAJournal.org     52Supporting Your Writing with Storytelling

In addition to giving a brief history of the standard manu-
script structure, Dr Herron explained that the IMRaD struc-
ture follows the STACR flow fairly naturally (see Figure 1). 

MICRO-STORIES STRENGTHEN YOUR WRITING 
FROM THE INSIDE OUT
Additionally, Dr Herron explained that the story structure 
can be applied to paragraphs and sentences. Using this tool 
on nano and micro levels, in addition to the macro level, 
makes your entire document strong and dynamic, like a 
living organism with a backbone. 
 At the nano (sentences) level, the story arc is com-
pressed into setup, tension/action/climax, and resolution. 
Basic sentences include a subject (introducing a character 
is the setup), verb (tension/action/climax), and object (reso-
lution—satisfying curiosity by answering what happened to 
the character). Dr Herron gave the following example:

• Setup: “Crystal” (what about Crystal? we are curious)
• Tension/Action/Climax: “loves” (ah, this is a positive 

sentence) 
• Resolution: “dogs” (satisfies our curiosity about what 

Crystal loves)

 Most of the sentences we write will be more complex 
than this, making it easier to create the setup, build tension, 
fill in the action, relieve tension with the climax, and resolve 
the nano-story. 
 Likewise, a great paragraph is made of micro-story arcs, 
arranged in an order that supports the overall story in the 
paper. Developing this structure on a paragraph level helps 
you ensure that each paragraph has a coherent purpose 
within the overarching story of the manuscript. 
 Ultimately, a manuscript tells the story of work that 
may have taken years to accomplish. Dr Herron challenged 
audience members to use a story structure to build and 
strengthen their manuscripts, enabling them to engage  
readers while informing them—and thereby have greater 
influence in the field. 
 For more on this topic, see “The Intrinsic Story Structure 
of Original Research Manuscripts,” by Crystal R. Herron, in 
the March 2023 issue of this journal (AMWA J. 2023;38[1]).

Allie Boman is lead editor at Boman Editing in Highwood, IL.

Author declaration and disclosures: The author notes no  
commercial associations that may pose a conflict of interest in 
relation to this article.

Author contact: Allie@BomanEditing.com

Figure 1. Three-act story structure in original research manuscripts. 
A. Three-act structure commonly found in stories. B. Three-act story 
structure found in original research manuscripts that follow the 
standard IMRaD (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion)
structure. Reprinted from "The Intrinsic Story Structure of Original
Research Manuscripts,” by Crystal R. Herron, in the March 2023 issue 
of this journal (AMWA J. 2023;38[1]).

http://www.amwajournal.org
https://doi.org/10.55752/amwa.2023.227
https://doi.org/10.55752/amwa.2023.227

	Cover v38 n2
	Contents
	Mission Statement, Masthead
	FROM THE GUEST EDITOR
	THEME ARTICLE - An Overview of the 2022 Update of GPP Guidelines
	THEME ARTICLE - GPP 2022 Update: An Interview with Dikran Toroser
	THEME ARTICLE - A Medical Writer’s Guide: Working on Clinical Research Manuscripts 
	TOPICAL FEATURE - The Business of Medical Writing: Understanding the Value 
	TOPICAL FEATURE - Effective Onscreen Editing: New Tools for an Old Profession
	SCIENCE SERIES
	EVERYDAY ETHICS
	FREELANCE FOCUS
	CE CRAFT CORNER - Continuing Education Writing: Know Your Clinician Audience
	CE CRAFT CORNER - Practical Strategies For Creating CME/CE Content: Insights 
	CONFERENCE-SESSION REPORT: The Backbone of Manuscripts: Supporting Your    Writing with Storytelling
	CONFERENCE-SESSION REPORT:  Journalistic Approach to Writing Better Abstracts
	CONFERENCE-SESSION REPORT: The New Normal in the Medical Publications Sector
	AMWA NEWS
	From the President
	2022 Annual Business Meeting for AMWA 
	AMWA Financial Report, 2021-2022
	AMWA’s Fourth Medical Writing Executives Forum
	Medical Writers Apprentice Programs - Survey Results
	2023 Conference Preview

	CALENDAR OF MEETINGS

