Telling a story

Claus O. Wilke

2024-12-26

How did I get to teach data visualization?

What is a story?


A story is a collection of observations, facts, or events presented in a specific order such that they create an emotional reaction.

Every story needs an arc

Opening

Challenge

Action

Resolution

Every story needs an arc

Opening

Challenge

Action

Resolution

Challenge and resolution are
the two most important parts

Mapping my story onto this format

Opening: We need to make many data visualizations in my lab

Challenge: I end up telling my students the same things over and over

Action: I go and write a book about data visualization

Resolution: The book is written. But now I teach the material, so I still keep saying the same things over and over

Other story structures

Action

Background

Development

Climax

Ending

(Better for action movies
than for scientific reports)

Mapping my story onto this format

Action: In May 2017, I embark on a major project: Write a book on data visualization

Background: I do this because we need to make many data visualizations in my lab, and I end up telling my students the same things over and over

Development: Writing the book takes me almost two years; along the way, I add many features to ggplot2 and become a member of the ggplot2 team

Climax: The book is released in April 2019

Ending: Now I’m a dataviz teacher

Other story structures



Lead

Development

(Commonly used in newspaper articles)

Mapping my story onto this format

Lead: Because I see the need for more education in data visualization, I have written an entire book about the topic

Development: I had previously written an R package to improve figure design, but it wasn’t sufficient: Good judgement cannot be automated

So I wrote a book; the book is entirely about concepts, not about coding, and it is meant as a resource for anybody doing data visualizations, regardless of their preferred visualization software

Telling a story with figures

Example: Preprints in biology

 

Opening

Example: Preprints in biology

 

What happened in 2014 to curtail the growth?

Challenge

Example: Preprints in biology

 

bioRxiv opened in 2014

Resolution

Keep in mind

  • Every figure needs a clear purpose within the story arc
  • A complete arc will usually require at least two figures

Prepare figures that make a clear point

 

Prepare figures that make a clear point

 

American and Delta have the shortest delays

Make your figures memorable


Make your figures memorable


Further reading