Guidelines
Before writing your story, review the Telling Our Story Guidelines below to help structure your writing and your submission.
Style
Telling Our Story aims to produce concise, simple stories about USAID-funded programs that everyone-especially people outside the field of international development-can enjoy reading.
The formula is simple: use powerful statistics; communicate progress; frame your story around USAID's larger Mission: and bring it to life with a personal narrative.
Stories are best when documenting how we empower people to help themselves, through their words. This demonstrates - in the public's eye - that the program is successful.
When composing your story, try to:
- Build a narrative flow for your story - with a beginning, middle, and end.
- Describe the problem or the issue and USAID's solution or response.
- Include direct quotes from the individuals whose story you are documenting.
- Include the name(s) and locations of the person(s) who is the central subject of the story.
- Avoid acronyms, program names, and partner names.
- Focus on the main subject of the story: the people that USAID helps.
Length
Stories submitted to the TOS website must follow the word limits indicated for each story type.
- Snapshot: 350-500 words
- Case Study: 450 words (150 words per paragraph)
- First Person: 350-500 words
- Before & After: 250 words (plus 50 words per caption)
- Photo & Caption: 350 words
Stories should be submitted in the correct format, and no go beyond the length of a single page.
Photograph
The quality of the photograph can make or break a story. Please review these guidelines carefully:
- Include the original digital image separately. Digital photos should be shot with at least a 3-megapixel resolution, and when possible, maintain at least 300 dpi (dots per inch).
- Also include your photo into the MS Word Template.
- JPEG (or .jpg) files are preferred. (GIF files make poor photographs.)
- Do not scan images from publications or other printed materials.
- Generally speaking: the larger the file, the better the quality and final result!
Submission
Submitting your story is easy. Simply go to Telling Our Story's submission page and follow the guidelines.
Model Stories
Before sitting down to write, consider reviewing our model stories. This will give you a sense of what makes for a successful submission.
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