The Story Angle: Choose Your Viewpoint

Award-winning writer Kathy Widenhouse has helped hundreds of nonprofits and writers produce successful content and has gained 600K+ views for her writing tutorials. She is the author of 9 books. See more of Kathy’s content here.

An online devotional for writers

A Word From The Word

The people of Judah were exiled to Babylon because they were unfaithful to the Lord. The first of the exiles to return to their property in their former towns were priests, Levites, Temple servants, and other Israelites. (1 Chronicles 9:1-2)

A Word For Writers

The story angle is a specific viewpoint on your topic. One story can have multiple story angles.

A good example are six books in the Old Testament that tell the story of the Hebrew people during the period of the kings (about 1021 BC – 568 BC).

In 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings, we read about Saul, David, Solomon, and the other monarchs who ruled after them. Plus, we learn about Assyria’s conquest of Israel and Babylonia’s victory over Judah. There’s plenty of drama and blood-and-guts in those four books. Rightly so, for they outline the political and military history of the Jewish people during that era.

But 1 & 2 Chronicles tell the same story! Why does God include those two books in His Word when He already recorded the history of Jewish monarchs?

Because 1 & 2 Chronicles are written from a different story angle. They target the religious history rather than the political history of the Jewish people during that time period.

The two books of Chronicles were written after the Hebrews returned to their land after exile. Their content outlines genealogies, temple practices, and God’s promises to the Hebrews – rather than battles and palace machinations – to remind the people of God’s faithfulness and to inspire their obedience.

It’s the same story. Yet each is told with a different story angle and each communicates different lessons. One, the lessons of history. The another, the lessons of faith.

Choose a story angle that communicates your particular message.

A Wise Word

Choose a story angle that communicates a specific lesson.

A Word To Pray

Gracious Father,

You have many lessons to teach me. Thank you for presenting those lessons in different viewpoints in your Word. Help me to have wisdom to choose and write from the story angle my readers need.

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

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