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Polar opposites: Exploring some very cool writing, the he said/she said version

Polar opposites: Exploring some very cool writing, the he said/she said version

As a near-spring Nor’easter hit New England this week, we showcased two recent stories about polar exploration. What intrigued me were the very different perspectives of the writers and subjects.…
March 16, 2018
Eva Holland and "Get Schooled in the No-Nonsense Art of Survival"

Eva Holland and “Get Schooled in the No-Nonsense Art of Survival”

Adventure narratives thrive on the nearness (or near miss) of doom’s heavy paw, but Eva Holland gives readers something other than a saga of suffering and survival in her recent…
March 15, 2018

“If I were hauling 600 miles across the Arctic, I’d choose J. for stamina and his uncomplaining nature … “

“If I were hauling 600 miles across the Arctic, I’d choose J. for stamina and his uncomplaining nature; A. for her medical skills and ability to play music; N. because…
March 14, 2018
Writing through a whiteout: David Grann and "The White Darkness"

Writing through a whiteout: David Grann and “The White Darkness”

The lede came to David Grann a year before he would complete his epic story and a year after the events it describes:“The man felt like a speck in the…
March 13, 2018
Syria's "selfie teen" highlights the devastation of war -- and the fog of war

Syria’s “selfie teen” highlights the devastation of war — and the fog of war

The fog of war is especially thick in Syria, where access is nearly impossible for foreign journalists and accounts of the war often reach the outside world via social media.…
March 8, 2018

“The American people want someone to articulate their rage for them.”

Why is it so great? I recently watched the movie “Network” again, and it could have been written in 2018 instead of more than 40 years earlier. This line almost…
March 7, 2018
Pacific Standard's executive editor shares some do's and don'ts on pitching stories

Pacific Standard’s executive editor shares some do’s and don’ts on pitching stories

Jennifer Sahn also mounts a defense of the overwhelmed editor, and why you might not hear back right away when you email
March 6, 2018
Is literary journalism the peacock of the news world? So much useful beauty

Is literary journalism the peacock of the news world? So much useful beauty

It was John Steinbeck’s birthday this week, and I came across this quote by him: “Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and…
March 2, 2018

“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, not the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

Why is it so great? The writing in this famous passage is so good that George Orwell wrote a parody of it designed to ridicule the bloated writing of his day:“Objective…
March 1, 2018
What Journalists Need to Know About Writing Screenplays

What Journalists Need to Know About Writing Screenplays

How many journalists regard the Watergate scandal as a love story? Peter Landesman does and that is, arguably, the key to his success as a screenwriter.Landesman was sitting in a…
February 28, 2018