Story Craft

Multimedia storytelling at The Atavist: One year in, how's it going, Evan Ratliff?

Multimedia storytelling at The Atavist: One year in, how’s it going, Evan Ratliff?

It’s been a little over a year since The Atavist debuted as a groundbreaking digital platform for long-form multimedia storytelling. Narrative journalists had been bemoaning the shrinking storytelling acreage, so this…
Kevin Sack on kidney transplants, kickers, the myth of the daily/narrative disconnect and “The Little Mermaid”

Kevin Sack on kidney transplants, kickers, the myth of the daily/narrative disconnect and “The Little Mermaid”

For our latest Notable Narrative we chose Kevin Sack’s “60 Lives, 30 Kidneys, All Linked,” a New York Times story about an unprecedented chain of kidney transplants. We admired the…
Harding in the house: a Pulitzer-winning novelist on rhythm, revision, rejection and a hundred other things

Harding in the house: a Pulitzer-winning novelist on rhythm, revision, rejection and a hundred other things

We promote narrative nonfiction here at Storyboard but occasionally look outside the genre for storytelling inspiration. Paul Harding, who won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his novel “Tinkers,”…
Getting the story: Luke Dittrich and the tornado

Getting the story: Luke Dittrich and the tornado

In Thursday’s post we excerpted nice lines from the five National Magazine Award finalists in feature writing. These included Luke Dittrich’s “Heavenly Father!...,” from Esquire, about survivors of the Joplin,…
Shaun McKinnon on deadline narrative, soundtrack inspiration and re-engaging readers in a saturated news story

Shaun McKinnon on deadline narrative, soundtrack inspiration and re-engaging readers in a saturated news story

To follow up on our latest Notable Narrative we flagged down Arizona Republic reporter Shaun McKinnon this week as he boarded a plane from Washington, D.C., back home to Phoenix,…
Documentary photographer Lori Waselchuk's "Grace Before Dying" and the ethics of narrative activism

Documentary photographer Lori Waselchuk's "Grace Before Dying" and the ethics of narrative activism

Lori Waselchuk describes herself as a “documentary photographer and arts activist.” We’ve wanted to talk with her for a while about her latest project, “Grace Before Dying,” which focuses on…
NPR’s Daniel Zwerdling on golden radio, Yoda parallels and the Robert Krulwich moment

NPR’s Daniel Zwerdling on golden radio, Yoda parallels and the Robert Krulwich moment

[The third installment in an ongoing series of posts by Julia Barton about audio narratives. –Ed.]A ghostly crowd of voices parades across the public radio airwaves every day: politicians and hosts,…
Meg Kissinger on writing the tough stories

Meg Kissinger on writing the tough stories

Our February Editors’ Roundtable tackled “The law creates barriers to getting care for the mentally ill,” a story by Meg Kissinger of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Addressing the difficult question…
February Editors' Roundtable: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on patients' rights

February Editors’ Roundtable: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on patients’ rights

Our February Roundtable looks at “Law creates barriers to getting care for mentally ill,” by Meg Kissinger. In her narrative, Kissinger touches on violence, mental health and 40 years of…
January Editors' Roundtable: The Roanoke Times on PTSD and hard questions

January Editors’ Roundtable: The Roanoke Times on PTSD and hard questions

Our January Roundtable looks at “After the battle, Mike Sword’s war within,” by Beth Macy. In her story, Macy explores the death of a combat veteran in southern Virginia, tracing…