Story Craft 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 Advice to a blocked writer from others who have suffered the same 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 Foreshadow forward; echo back. How writers harness the power of the callback The art of the callback in comedy, film, literature and journalism: When repetition isn't redundancy, but theme and structure May 2, 2019 Ben Yagoda A young journalist is inspired by fickle spring weather (and an old newspaper story) How a 300-word assignment, and a quick read of Ken Fuson's "What a Day!" from 1995, was channeled into a nonfiction prose poem April 30, 2019 Kelley Benham French Previous 1 … 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 … 39 Next
