Story Craft

We need fact-checkers more than ever. Here's how to work with one.

We need fact-checkers more than ever. Here’s how to work with one.

Journalist and author Kim Cross on organizing your reporting and preparing for the process.
March 14, 2025
Kim Cross
An editor learns a new narrative form: writing musicals

An editor learns a new narrative form: writing musicals

After years working in newsrooms, Kara Cutruzzula uses her journalism skills to tell stories for the stage.
March 6, 2025
Kara Cutruzzula
The craft of memoir: queer joy, turtles, and caring for the reader in Edgar Gomez's 'Alligator Tears'

The craft of memoir: queer joy, turtles, and caring for the reader in Edgar Gomez’s ‘Alligator Tears’

"You can take the reader out of that present moment and plop them somewhere else, and it can be meaningful, it can be strategic."
February 27, 2025
Minda Honey
Inside the acknowledgments: The making of Wright Thompson’s 'The Barn'

Inside the acknowledgments: The making of Wright Thompson’s ‘The Barn’

You can learn a lot from a work of nonfiction by seeing whom the author thanks.
February 20, 2025
Elon Green
When digital outreach fails, try pen and paper 

When digital outreach fails, try pen and paper 

Journalists can find value in the old-school approach of handwritten letters to gain interviews and thank sources
December 19, 2024
Mallary Tenore Tarpley
A journalist, a boy, and a surprising literary gift 

A journalist, a boy, and a surprising literary gift 

What a New York Times editor’s father-son trip can teach us about personal essay writing
December 13, 2024
Mallary Tenore Tarpley
13 ways to consider an interview

13 ways to consider an interview

A magazine writer and editor shares real-life lessons from 50 years of interviewing: It's not a conversation and you are not a supplicant
October 10, 2024
Dale Keiger
5 shared lessons from some masters of narrative nonfiction

5 shared lessons from some masters of narrative nonfiction

A journalist starting her career turned to the older generation of "new journalists" to learn the skills and ethics of narrative
September 20, 2024
Grace Kenyon
How investigative master Seymour Hersh broke the story of the My Lai massacre

How investigative master Seymour Hersh broke the story of the My Lai massacre

A round-about tip, a dogged pursuit and some creative tactics made the career of a young reporter and helped end a war
September 4, 2024
Richard Read
When you can't paint over problems and need to tear your story down to the studs

When you can’t paint over problems and need to tear your story down to the studs

A kitchen renovation reminds a writer that not every story can be saved without a complete rewrite and a thoughtful blueprint
August 28, 2024
Joanne Sasvari