How an old story taught new lessons about reporting trauma

A quarter-century after a catastrophic fire, a reporter returned to interview survivors and faced the grief she had carried with her

By Line Vaaben • April 4, 2024

A memorial to one of the 63 young people killed in a 1998 disco fire in Sweden

2024 Power of Narrative: Double the power of your story with a braided structure

In a long feature story, two related or resonant threads can be woven to make a piece that is both complex and clear

By Madeline Bodin • April 3, 2024

Reverse engineering and story construction

Blueprints, patterns, schematics and other building plans provide a model for building a more effective story with less struggle

By Jacqui Banaszynski • April 2, 2024

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“…last straws and camels’ backs…”

By Jacqui Banaszynski

November 8, 2023

Charles P. Pierce (paraphrased) on college basketball coach Bobby Knight

“History is a merciless judge.”

By Jacqui Banaszynski

November 2, 2023

David Grann in his nonfiction book "Killers of the Flower Moon"

“Now is the winter … “

By Jacqui Banaszynski

October 6, 2023

Name that source: Subversive literature in a raunchy, slapstick comedy

“Are you writing this down?”

By Polly Basore Wenzl

July 26, 2023

An 11-year-old in Wichita, Kansas, challenging a journalist

“… it’s not terribly unusual to see grown men crying …”

By Erik Ness

June 2, 2023

Cynthia Barnes of Denver Westword in her obit of a local bartender

“…just how astonishing this particular moment really is.”

By Jacqui Banaszynski

March 31, 2023

Peter Baker of The New York Times on the indictment of former President Donald J. Trump

Divining the “fantastical sea creatures” on the political horizon

By Jacqui Banaszynski

March 23, 2023

New York Times chief political analyst Nate Cohn on the possibilities of indictments against Donald J. Trump

“…cutting the viewer to the bone.”

By Trevor Pyle

March 7, 2023

Film critic Matt Zoller Seitz on actor Tom Sizemore

“…the stories it told … were not someone else’s but one larger story of which they, too, were a part.”

By Jacqui Banaszynski

March 1, 2023

By Jacqui Banaszynski As I read Celeste Ng’s most recent novel, I couldn’t help but think of George Orwell’s “1984” or Margaret Atwood’s “A Handmaid’s Tale.” Nor could I avoid echoes to discordant times in real life in recent years. Novelist Celeste Ng… Read More

One Great Moment

“… how the persons with jobs do the jobs and all the living as well.”

By Jacqui Banaszynski

February 1, 2023

From the novel "Room" buy Emma Donoghue, which is written entirely in the voice and perspective of a 5-year-old boy

Tommy Tomlinson on Herschel Walker in his football prime

Personal Essays

How an old story taught new lessons about reporting trauma

A quarter-century after a catastrophic fire, a reporter returned to interview survivors and faced the grief she had carried with her

Story Craft

2024 Power of Narrative: Double the power of your story with a braided structure

In a long feature story, two related or resonant threads can be woven to make a piece that is both complex and clear

From the Editor

Reverse engineering and story construction

Blueprints, patterns, schematics and other building plans provide a model for building a more effective story with less struggle

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