Story Craft

We call lots of things “stories” in American journalism, but very few of them are true narrative storytelling. Most journalistic accounts are reports, whose primary purpose is to pass along information…

There are stories everywhere. Any idea could probably be a story if you had enough time and stamina, but I try to expedite the process a bit.I read whatever I…

Narratives that treat the impact of the Iraq War on American families and society often find their central theme in such remarks as “He was proud to serve his country,”…

A narrative is a story that has a beginning, middle and end. It engages the reader’s mind and heart. It shows actors moving across its stage, revealing their characters through…

I started a narrative group at the Akron Beacon Journal in January 2004. We meet roughly twice a month to discuss narrative techniques, how to apply them and improve the…

This essay is adapted from Rick Meyer’s notes for a talk at the 2005 Nieman Narrative Editors’ Seminar. Rick’s presentation was paired with Laurie Hertzel’s talk on scenes. We probably ought…

As you map out the story, there are a lot of things for you to consider

What is your advice on structuring a story while reporting? You report for structure the same way you report for anything else. When you’re reporting for dramatic narrative, you’re reporting…

Newspaper folks talk a lot about getting people into stories. But all too often that means trotting out direct quotes from a variety of sources. True characterization taps an array of…

Journalists should report the truth. Who would deny it? But such a statement does not get us far enough, for it fails to distinguish nonfiction from other forms of expression.…