A 3,000-word story, 70 email questions ~ and a grateful writer
By Jyoti Madhoosoodanan (from a Facebook post) Currently in an email thread that is 70 messages long (and growing) — all to check the accuracy of a 3,000 word story, with a special focus on a few...
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So many newsletters: Reading to learn to write to be read
By Jacqui Banaszynski I try to take notice of writing approaches in all manner of places. As a kid, I read the back of cereal boxes, which probably were promo-style or maybe kid-type stories. I read...
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Respecting the tortured voice and troubled choices of the mentally ill
By Chip Scanlan The best narrative writers know they need not just to interview after the fact, but to observe in the moment. They want to be on the scene, where they see characters and action unfold...
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Following an unfinished story: A year in the life of a post-Roe family
By Trevor Pyle When reporter Kavitha Surana and photographer Stacy Kranitz profiled a Tennessee mother forced to endure a life-threatening pregnancy shortly after Roe v. Wade was overturned, they could...
View ArticleTrue stories embrace the dualities of life
By Jacqui Banaszynski Above are a couple of spring daffodils for you as the world passes the spring equinox, and the tilt of time once again shifts. I send them for no other reason than it’s spring...
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Triad ledes: The power of three to tell the story of all
By Jacqui Banaszynski Classic news narratives tend to follow a single primary character through a story. There are other characters, of course, including people connected to the main character or more...
View Article2024 Power of Narrative: Compelling stories delivered on tight deadline
By Madeline Bodin It’s a chronic problem with narrative journalism. No matter what media you work in, no matter what genre, no matter whether your deadlines are short and solid or long and adjustable —...
View ArticleReverse engineering and story construction
A recent phone conversation has me thinking about construction. Not of the firewood holder waiting in the garage to be assembled (a spare Allen wrench, anyone?). I’m thinking of construction as it...
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2024 Power of Narrative: Double the power of your story with a braided structure
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second of ourdispatches from the 2024 Power of Narrative conference at Boston University. For the first post, see deadline narratives by a Wall Street Journal podcast team....
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How an old story taught new lessons about reporting trauma
By Line Vaaben Much of my shaping as a journalist traces back 25 years, when I covered a deadly fire in Sweden. But it wasn’t until I returned to the scene a quarter-century later that I realized how...
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