Why’s This So Good?

Shop class: What the hit musical teaches about the art and reach of narrative

The Facebook post was conversational and almost light-hearted:And on Day Two of Camp Fire coverage, I spilled water all over my notebook and laptop (tips?!). Seems fitting that the only…

Sometimes I push writing students to look for new ways to tell stories.Should you start with the “small” things? Is there a story in the way a character dresses? How…

New York Times sports reporter John Branch explores competitive "speedcubing," where awkward outsiders find a home

 I sat on a bench with Wade Livingston the other day. We talked about an alligator attack, a woman who drowned, and the people who saw fit to condemn her for the audacity…

The opening paragraph of Rebecca Solnit’s new LitHub essay, “Why the President Must Be Impeached,” is a single sentence, 88 words long. It is one of the shortest paragraphs in…

How the profile of a sweet sport led to news scoops and a dark mystery, and how the mystery drove a narrative

In The New York Times Magazine's quirky "Letter of Recommendation" column, Nicola Twilley examines the charms of a monstrous subterranean clot formed by the detritus of a genteel city

In a lyrical New York Times story that resonated with readers, the writer juxtaposes the hardship and the loveliness of winter on a remote Maine island

Writing for Outside magazine on an "Extreme Polar" camp, she decides to focus on fun -- and wonder -- instead of macho explorer suffering