The way into the data, the way into the story

Facing the blank page of a story is a lot like facing a complicated new dataset. We need strategies to start digging in to avoid that overwhelming “where do I start” feeling. In this talk I will describe ways to approach a new dataset, specifically with an eye towards finding (and later telling) the story within it, including ones that are inspired by the creative-writing world. Together, we’ll think through questions like: how can speculative thinking help guide our curiosity about the data available to us, how can thinking of records in our data as characters and considering their point of view lead us to hidden storylines, and how can sketching help us both explore our expectations about what we might find in the data and design data visualizations that help others see the eventual story? Whether you are new to telling data stories or a data storytelling pro, you will leave this talk with new ways to approach your data and find your way to a compelling story.