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Step one: choose the single tension
Start by naming the one tension that makes the person worth reading about. In the worked example, the runner is a senior returning from a stress fracture with one championship season left. The tension is whether patience or urgency will win. Write it as one sentence and keep it visible while reporting. Every interview question, scene and statistic should either deepen that tension or be cut. Without this choice, profiles drift into résumé summaries. With it, even a routine training day becomes meaningful because the reader knows what is being risked and why.
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Step two: select three scenes and one number
Next, pick three scenes that carry the story and one number that grounds it. For the runner, the scenes might be a first jog on an indoor track, a conversation with the coach about holding back, and race morning. The number could be the weeks of recovery or a target split. Scenes give texture; the number gives scale. Gather sensory detail for each scene during reporting: sounds, weather, who stood nearby, what was said. Resist adding extra scenes, because a profile with too many moments loses its shape and the reader forgets which one mattered most.
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Step three: order the piece and check the ending
Finally, decide the order and test the ending. A common structure opens in a scene, steps back to explain the tension, moves through the remaining scenes, and returns to the opening image changed. For the runner, that could mean beginning on the first jog and ending on the finish line or the decision to stop. Before filing, confirm every quote and fact with the subject or source, and ask whether the ending answers the tension sentence honestly. If the outcome is unresolved, say so plainly. An open ending told truthfully is stronger than a tidy one invented for effect.