Story Craft An investigative journalist takes a yearly “leap out of the comfort zone” into fiction Every journalist has an unfinished novel or a screenplay tucked in their desk drawer or hard drive. Of course, that’s not true in every case, but there’s no doubt a… January 15, 2020 Chip Scanlan The narrative of the year behind? Start now Come the close of any calendar year, and look-back pieces are as common as failed New Year resolutions. At the close of a decade — even more.So when one rises… January 1, 2020 Jacqui Banaszynski Some warbly thoughts on “voice” Defining a writer’s “voice” has always stumped me. It came up again recently, when a journalism professor put me on speaker phone with her class of college freshmen, who had… November 22, 2019 Jacqui Banaszynski From five minutes to finished Hang out at a journalism workshop, anywhere in the world, and inevitably the subject comes up: We’re being asked to produce more and more, in less and less time.It was… October 18, 2019 Jacqui Banaszynski Lessons from biographer Robert Caro’s instructive mini-memoir “Working” If there were no Robert Caro, he could not easily be invented. Consider the job description: Commit your career to exhaustive research into the lives of two legendarily powerful men,… October 15, 2019 Don Nelson The story in the music — and the music in how the story is written I fall to pieces every time I hear a recording of Patsy Cline singing “Crazy” or “Sweet Dreams” — or “I Fall to Pieces” — and it’s not just because… September 26, 2019 Chuck Haga If it was good enough for Jane Austen … My mother’s reverence for education, a solid grounding in middle-school grammar, and a long career in old-school journalism has chiseled me into one of those people who honors language, and… September 13, 2019 Jacqui Banaszynski Shop class: Stuck before you start? Eat a cookie, take a walk, set it out for the elves I’m not usually struck with writer’s block. I’ve been a journalist for 40 years; when you work for a daily newspaper you are not allowed that luxury. You report, you… August 28, 2019 Laurie Hertzel Lessons from a relentless “Reporter” “Reporter” had to be the inevitable title for legendary investigative journalist Seymour M. Hersh’s 2018 autobiography. It’s perfect — a simple, proud word that encompasses craft, passion and conscience. In… August 16, 2019 Don Nelson Roy Peter Clark on the search for the “embedded narrative” Not long ago, I came out of a theater in Tampa, Florida, and heard someone calling my name. It was Adan Martinez, a young college student who had just performed… May 21, 2019 Roy Peter Clark Previous 1 … 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 … 38 Next
