Articles

Roy Peter Clark: A red-nosed reindeer lights the way to better writing

Roy Peter Clark: A red-nosed reindeer lights the way to better writing

Roy Peter ClarkEDITOR’S NOTE: In the spirit of the giving season, the Poynter Institute gave us permission to use this piece (first published by Poynter Dec. 10) in which Roy Peter Clark teaches…
December 21, 2018
Roy Peter Clark
A "final" phone call from the wildfires inspires an unusual, intimate story written under the fire of deadline

A “final” phone call from the wildfires inspires an unusual, intimate story written under the fire of deadline

 The first sentence is treacherous: This is how I die.It stands alone, in italics – first person, no quote marks. It reads like an epitaph beneath a photograph of six…
December 19, 2018
Julia Shipley
How to crack the code of live storytelling with Pop-Up Magazine

How to crack the code of live storytelling with Pop-Up Magazine

When I first saw Pop-Up Magazine in San Francisco a couple of years ago, I struggled to describe the experience to friends. What do you call a show where you…
December 18, 2018
Katia Savchuk
Want to make your headlines sing? Try writing to the beats of "Hamilton"

Want to make your headlines sing? Try writing to the beats of “Hamilton”

As a newish multiplatform editor at The Washington Post, I’m always looking for help writing great headlines. My mind isn’t naturally filled with puns, I haven’t read reams of poetry…
December 13, 2018
Lisa Grace Lednicer
How film class led to fighting wildfires which led to finding a home which led to a memoir

How film class led to fighting wildfires which led to finding a home which led to a memoir

In a full-circle illustration of the way life sometimes imitates art, screenwriting led Sarah Berns to smokejumping. Then smokejumping led to a cinematic memoir, written with a director’s eye and…
December 11, 2018
Kim Cross
Braving the Drake Passage, swimming with leopard seals and interviewing a non-talker

Braving the Drake Passage, swimming with leopard seals and interviewing a non-talker

From the archives: National Geographic writer Craig Welch turns silent subjects into the compelling voices of climate change
December 5, 2018
Cheryl Katz
"We don't carry that brand, but I think Gimbel's does."

“We don’t carry that brand, but I think Gimbel’s does.”

If this choice for One Great Sentence seems odd, rest assured we’re not going to go all holiday sappy on you. That’s what the Hallmark holiday movie channels are for.…
November 29, 2018
Jacqui Banaszynski
When syncopation rocks a nation: "Hamilton" enthralls fifth-graders (and parents) with a rockin' story of history

When syncopation rocks a nation: “Hamilton” enthralls fifth-graders (and parents) with a rockin’ story of history

One honey-glazed autumn afternoon, I watched a tangle of fifth-graders playing Capture the Flag in a park in Boise, Idaho. Their favorite soundtrack blared in the background: Alexander Hamilton. My name…
November 28, 2018
Kim Cross
Large writing lessons from a small space

Large writing lessons from a small space

A morning’s hasty scroll through Facebook earlier this week showed the above photo from Traci Angel, an author, teacher and freelancer based in Kansas City and a recent Storyboard contributor.…
November 22, 2018
Jacqui Banaszynski
"...readers want to feel secure in the hands of the author."

“…readers want to feel secure in the hands of the author.”

This simple statement stands as a truism for all storytellers, regardless of platform or genre. Every writer, filmmaker, photographer, illustrator, podcaster, editor and teacher of same should keep some version…
November 21, 2018
Jacqui Banaszynski