Articles

"There's a story he's waiting for, long before he comes across it."

“There’s a story he’s waiting for, long before he comes across it.”

In the original context of “The Overstory,” this sentence applies to a young man — a teenager, actually — who tumbles into the little-known language of coding and programming in…
January 16, 2019
Jacqui Banaszynski
An annotated project that "breaks the 'rules' in all the right ways"

An annotated project that “breaks the ‘rules’ in all the right ways”

EDITOR’S NOTE: While we did not annotate this project by ProPublica Illinois, we are including it in “Annotation Tuesday” because the story itself, as published, was an innovative example of…
January 15, 2019
Chip Scanlan
Newsroom Ode #2: Making story hay whether the sun shines or not

Newsroom Ode #2: Making story hay whether the sun shines or not

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second of a series of odes that chronicle the legacy newsroom. Each is written from different first-person perspective. Together they create the mumbled narrative of a…
January 14, 2019
Don Nelson
The Sixth Cactus: When green becomes so much more than green

The Sixth Cactus: When green becomes so much more than green

Editor’s note: This is another in our Shop Class series. The goal is to break down the work that goes into creating stories, and offer prompts, suggestions or exercises to help you…
January 9, 2019
Madeline Bodin
Five life hacks for beating writer's block

Five life hacks for beating writer’s block

Every writer procrastinates. Even John McPhee, one of the most prolific writers of our time. “I’ll go hours before I’m able to write a word,” he has said. “I’ll make tea. I…
January 8, 2019
Kim Cross
Newsroom Ode #1: Friday night on the city desk

Newsroom Ode #1: Friday night on the city desk

EDITOR’S NOTE: For something a bit different, we offer the Monday bonus: an eight-week series (give or take) of poems that chronicle the legacy newsroom. Each is written from first-person…
January 7, 2019
Don Nelson
A writer Instagrams his way back to love ... or something close to it

A writer Instagrams his way back to love … or something close to it

Since Tyrone Beason moved to Seattle in the mid 1990s, the city has undergone record-breaking growth and transformation. Gone are the funky old hangs of the 1950s and ’60s, the…
January 4, 2019
Elie Gardner
“Everyone likes to reminisce, but no one wants to listen, and everyone feels annoyed when someone else tells a story.”

“Everyone likes to reminisce, but no one wants to listen, and everyone feels annoyed when someone else tells a story.”

There is much to consider in “The Three-Body Problem,” the first in a trilogy by Chinese science fiction novelist Cixin Liu (translated by Ken Liu). Much of it – physics,…
January 1, 2019
Jacqui Banaszynski
Yes, everyone, there is a reason to believe ...

Yes, everyone, there is a reason to believe …

Dear Reader,As the holiday weekend approached, a newspaper friend asked me why, as editor of a community newspaper, I reprinted the editorial “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” on…
December 25, 2018
Tom Warhover
An "Advent Manifesto" written in 100 short bursts becomes a study in deep writing

An “Advent Manifesto” written in 100 short bursts becomes a study in deep writing

EDITOR’S NOTE: The below note came to us from Cathy Grimes, a Nieman Fellow alum and faithful Storyboard reader. She said it was prompted by recent posts in which other…
December 24, 2018
Cathy Grimes