Strictly Q&A

How the personal narrative can make the difference between prison and release

How the personal narrative can make the difference between prison and release

When Dashka Slater looked at California’s parole system, she saw more than a sprawling bureaucracy; she saw a place where people struggled toward redemption. When she followed those seeking parole,…
February 25, 2020
Trevor Pyle
When the story we cover becomes our own

When the story we cover becomes our own

It’s an all-too-familiar story. Another American factory closes, the latest in a long line in the last three decades that has seen American manufacturing devastated by foreign competition. This time…
January 10, 2020
Chip Scanlan
Coming home from stories of war

Coming home from stories of war

 Last month, journalist, filmmaker and military veteran Zack Baddorf made a plea, in an essay for Nieman Reports, that more veterans consider careers in journalism and more newsrooms hire veterans.…
December 4, 2019
Hope McLeod
Three core story principles, along with tea, baked goods and endless enthusiasm

Three core story principles, along with tea, baked goods and endless enthusiasm

You no doubt know Reuters, the global financial news giant that is now part of Thomson Reuters. But you might not know that when it launched more than a century…
November 1, 2019
Julia Shipley
Singular moments, timeless questions

Singular moments, timeless questions

Sunday, December 28, 1986. An ordinary day, much like any other. Except in two operating rooms at Fairfax Hospital in suburban Virginia, where something extraordinary was about to happen.In one…
October 22, 2019
Chip Scanlan
Ditching "monkey mind" to find joy while writing

Ditching “monkey mind” to find joy while writing

Two days to deadline. You haven’t written a word — just scribbles and a few sad-faced glyphs in the margins of a skeletal outline. You’re surrounded by great raw material…
October 16, 2019
Hope McLeod
Stories that unfold — and pain that is measured — from the ground up

Stories that unfold — and pain that is measured — from the ground up

You can almost smell the cedar-hewn totem poles and see them rise from the soil, so evocative is “We Didn’t Stand A Chance,” Joshua Hunt’s personal essay about opioid abuse…
October 9, 2019
Trevor Pyle
"Life is too short to write something boring."

“Life is too short to write something boring.”

I’m obsessed with structure. From John McPhee’s sketch for “Travels in Georgia,” which resembles a Fibonacci Spiral, to the lopsided bell curve of the classic story arc, there are examples…
September 26, 2019
Kim Cross
When gun violence visits, a pastor finds faith and a reporter finds those not noticed

When gun violence visits, a pastor finds faith and a reporter finds those not noticed

“Pittsburgh. El Paso. San Bernardino. Las Vegas. Aurora. Orlando. Sandy Hook. Isla Vista. Gilroy. Colorado Springs.”David Montero’s voice trails off.  “I just feel like there are obvious ones I’m missing.…
September 19, 2019
Chip Scanlan
A bag of ashes, a research-loving reporter, the public library, and a three-hour hunt

A bag of ashes, a research-loving reporter, the public library, and a three-hour hunt

It was an intriguing bit of crowd-sourcing: Police in Portland, Oregon, said they had “exhausted all resources” in attempts to find relatives or friends of a dead WWII veteran, and…
September 6, 2019
Trevor Pyle