Author

Kim Cross

@KimHCross

Kim Cross is a New York Times best-selling author of What Stands in a Storm and In Light of All Darkness. Obsessed with story structure, cinematic scenes, and time-stamped recorded dialogue, she loves finding storytelling inspiration in unexpected places. An editor-at-large for The Sunday Long Read and a contributing editor for Food & Wine, she teaches feature writing for Harvard Extension School’s master’s program in journalism, The Larry McMurtry Literary Center in Texas, and the Sawtooth Writing Retreat in Idaho. Find her at @kimcross, on a mountain bike, or in a trout stream.

The art of the narrative interview: Pre-interviewing for a successful pitch

The art of the narrative interview: Pre-interviewing for a successful pitch

A narrative journalist and nonfiction author shares how she pre-reports to find a viable story and a compelling central character
A spotlight on the art of the interview

A spotlight on the art of the interview

Nonfiction journalist, author and teacher Kim Cross explores the techiniques she uses in interviewing for narrative stories
The backstory of a book of backstories about stories 

The backstory of a book of backstories about stories 

Some masters of narrative nonfiction collaborate to publish an anthology of current classics started by their late friend, Matt Tullis
A first-time war correspondent finds human stories in a devastated Ukraine

A first-time war correspondent finds human stories in a devastated Ukraine

Washington Post reporter Lizzie Johnson volunteered for a Christmas-month rotation in Ukraine, where she filed intimate narratives as well as news
Gifts for reporters and writers!

Gifts for reporters and writers!

Just in time for the holidays — or any day — journalist and author Kim Cross shares her must-have reporting and writing tools
What stacking wood can teach us about structuring stories

What stacking wood can teach us about structuring stories

Author and wood-splitter Kim Cross tackles a mountain of firewood, which helps her work through the mountainous first draft of a story
How a top explanatory reporter does emotional interviews: With empathy

How a top explanatory reporter does emotional interviews: With empathy

Pulitzer Prize winner Ed Yong of The Atlantic takes the same open approach with COVID scientists and frontline nurses
A profile of one place that echoes all places

A profile of one place that echoes all places

How evocative imagery and telling details paint a portrait of a singular landscape that holds universal emotions and memories
Narrative of Oregon town’s hellish wildfire experience is a lesson in deadline writing

Narrative of Oregon town’s hellish wildfire experience is a lesson in deadline writing

This past Labor Day, three reporters in Salem, Oregon were enjoying the holiday weekend. They’d done a good job preparing stories in advance so they wouldn’t have to scramble the…
A Writer's Survival Guide: Tips for defying distraction

A Writer’s Survival Guide: Tips for defying distraction

One moderately productive, relatively-sane freelancer’s approach to writing through a crisis