What is the difference between a report and a story?
‘Fetal homicide charge dismissed, bond lowered for KY woman charged after abortion’ is a story written by Taylor Six for the Lexington Herald-Leader in early January.
Melinda Spencer was pregnant and denied a medical abortion, so she took medication and was charged with fetal homicide. According to KY law, first-degree fetal homicide cannot be applied to abortions, so the charge has been dismissed.
I think this report would be better as a story because it would allow the reader to connect and better understand the main character, Spencer. As a story, you would learn why she wanted and abortion and what prevented her from getting it, directly from the source herself.
In a 3-act structure, I would begin with introducing Melinda Spencer and finding out how she ended up with an unwanted pregnancy. In the middle, I would introduce the conflict: Spencer cannot get an abortion from her doctor. She decides to take medicine to force abortion, but is turned into officials by a doctor. She’s arrested and charged.
In the third act, I would resolve the conflict and look towards the future. The prosecutor prepares for the trial and finds the law that states that abortion cannot be charged as first-degree fetal homicide. The charges are dropped, the bond is lowered and Spencer is released.
Following Peter Clark’s Five Ws, the who – the character – would be Melinda Spencer. The what – the action – would be the abortion and the legal consequences. The where – the setting – would be Wolfe County, KY. The when – the chronology – would begin with the background, move chronologically to the present and look into the future, or outlook, of the situation. The why – the motivation – would be Spencer’s background and her pregnancy.
In order to turn this report into a narrative story, I would need access to a lot of people. The most important source would be Melinda Spencer herself, as she is the key to the story. I would like access to friends and family of Spencer to get better background and peripheral information. The prosecutor, Melinda King, and others working to charge Spencer would also be interesting to talk to, particularly about preparing for the trial and finding the law that ultimately led to charges being dropped. The doctor who turned her in or the person who received that call would also be interesting, assuming I could track them down.