Narrative News

Jim Sheeler turned the simple obituary into a high and reverent art

Sheeler, winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in feature writing, is dead at 53

By Jacqui Banaszynski • September 23, 2021

Jim Sheeler won the 2006 Pultizer Prize in feature writing for

The New Yorker explores a dilemma in Ultra-Orthodox divorce: What about the children?

Writer Larissa MacFarquhar is drawn to stories that help her sort out issues that have no clear solutions

By Carly Stern • September 21, 2021

Story Craft

How listening to foreign languages can enrich your writing

An author and essayist listens to stories in in their native tongues to hear new rhythms, phrasing and metaphor

By Shoba Narayan • September 17, 2021

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Story Craft

How listening to foreign languages can enrich your writing

By Shoba Narayan

September 17, 2021

An author and essayist listens to stories in in their native tongues to hear new rhythms, phrasing and metaphor

Story Craft

A 9/11 survival story: Honoring accuracy and voice in eyewitness accounts

By Roy Peter Clark

September 9, 2021

Writing scholar Roy Peter Clark reprises a cousin's escape story, and finds lessons for writers who help people recount personal stories

Story Craft

From Sept. 11 to COVID: Using the personal to write the global

By Shoba Narayan

September 8, 2021

Memoirs of universal events require a intimate details, personal exploration and respect for facts

Story Craft

A panoramic approach to a book about the Sept. 11 boat lift

By Jessica DuLong

September 7, 2021

Author Jessica DuLong considered pointillism and reader needs to tell the sweeping story of the largest maritime rescue in history

Story Craft

Pitching ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network: Focus on sources and impact

By Carly Stern

August 17, 2021

"Why does this story need to be told here, in this community? And why does this story need to be told now?" says ProPublica’s managing editor for local

Story Craft

#6 rule of pitching: Stay focused

By Jacqui Banaszynski

July 8, 2021

A good pitch is not a scattershot, but a clearly stated central idea or question that is fresh, relevant, and a fit for the publication

Story Craft

Sage writing advice from the editor of Column One

By Madeline Bodin

June 9, 2021

Steve Padilla of the Los Angeles Times urges writers to tune up their writing with song

Story Craft

#5 rule of pitching: Make it sparkle

By Jacqui Banaszynski

May 28, 2021

Don't lose an interesting idea in a boring pitch

Story Craft

How narrative moments can elevate a non-narrative story

By Jacqui Banaszynski

May 11, 2021

Little gems of character, dialogue, description and scene make a complex explanatory piece more compelling

Story Craft

An award-winning food writer explores the legacy of sexual identity in the food world

By Aiman Javed

March 9, 2021

A profile of the late San Francisco chef Elka Gilmore shows the work it took to highlight her pioneering role as both chef and gay female in a male world