Articles

When the narrative becomes the disease

When the narrative becomes the disease

EDITOR’S NOTE: This piece is published in partnership with our friends at the Poynter Institute. It’s happening again, as it always happens with disease. Our fear of contagion has turned some…
John Prine would want us to feel real life today, and write it with feeling every day

John Prine would want us to feel real life today, and write it with feeling every day

It’s 4:08 a.m. EST on Wednesday, April 8,  as I type this, and John Prine has been dead for too long.Like many of you, I went to bed a few…
How knowing the full story process informs a writer's work

How knowing the full story process informs a writer’s work

The anecdote is packed. Daniel Riley was writing a profile for GQ of Brooks Koepka, one of the world’s elite golfers, and he knew immediately that this would be a…
How to wed personal experience and journalistic discipline

How to wed personal experience and journalistic discipline

Some journalistic tenets are almost sacred, among them: The story is not about us.But sometimes, the story is. Or at least the journalist is living the same story as his…
Six core questions to spark fresh ideas

Six core questions to spark fresh ideas

Shop class: What we can learn about finding and focusing original enterprise stories from watching the early days of coronavirus coverage
A writer channels her own life of fear to report about science and psychology

A writer channels her own life of fear to report about science and psychology

Award-winning freelancer and outdoorswoman Eva Holland weaves memoir and research in her debut book "Nerve"
"... America was postoned."

“… America was postoned.”

—Zachary T. Sampson of the Tampa Bay Times, with a crucial assist from colleague Jay Cridlin, in a story about coronavirus closures
What we can learn about writing and life in a graduation speech sent from a distance

What we can learn about writing and life in a graduation speech sent from a distance

Do you remember your college commencement speaker, or anything s/he said? I had it in my head that a state legislator spoke at my high school graduation in 1970, but…
Writing the character, contradictions and soul of a place

Writing the character, contradictions and soul of a place

Dan Zak of the Washington Post toured 800 miles of Iowa in five days to explore the real place behind the political headlines and cultural cliches
Calling out Olympic officials' past failures as coronavirus threatens the 2020 Games

Calling out Olympic officials’ past failures as coronavirus threatens the 2020 Games

Sally Jenkins has been writing for the sports section of the Washington Post going on 20 years. The Associated Press and the Society for Professional Journalists have named her the…