Story Annotations

3 young reporters, 1 veteran editor, a 50 mph fire, 7 days and 4,500 gripping words

The entire reporting staff of the Salem Reporter used digital tools, shoe leather and teamwork to deliver a fast-turn narrative on a deadly Oregon fire

By Kim Cross • September 29, 2020

Saphara Harrell of the Salem Reporter on teh scene of a deadly wildfire in Oregon

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From the Editor

#1 rule of pitching: Study the publication

Researching the basics of the site you're pitching to — story length, purpose and tone — reveals respect for the work of reporting

By Jacqui Banaszynski • September 25, 2020

Featured Contributors

Chip Scanlan

Julia Shipley

Roy Peter Clark

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Writing tips The Pitch Freelancing Pitching stories Story structure
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From the Editor

The power of a pronoun

By Jacqui Banaszynski
August 25, 2020

A few thoughts on advances in women's rights as seen through language

Strictly Q&A

How a high school journalist geared up to cover protests in Portland, Oregon

By Lisa Grace Lednicer
August 20, 2020

Eddy Binford-Ross provided nightly eye-witness coverage of historic, and sometimes violent, clashes between police and protestors

Personal Essays

Rewriting the “hero’s journey” to fit a feminine narrative

By Madeline Bodin
August 19, 2020

A writer on a hunt to understand classic story structure ponders politics, movies and her grandmother's life, and searches for a journey of their own

Strictly Q&A

Two veteran newswomen learn podcasting to retell the story of women’s suffrage

By Katherine Lanpher
August 18, 2020

Award-winning journalists Ellen Goodman and Lynn Sherr take a deep and intimate dive into the history of the 19th Amendment in "She Votes!"

Story Annotations

Bearing witness inside a funeral home at the pitch of the COVID pandemic

By Trevor Pyle
August 14, 2020

A team from Vanity Fair paints an intimate portrait of death and horror — and a staff determined to meet them with dignity and humanity

Story Craft

Writing rituals: Superstition or productivity?

By Chip Scanlan
August 12, 2020

A book captures the obsessive habits of great authors — quirks that writing coach Chip Scanlan says help writers focus and summon the Muse

Strictly Q&A

Extraordinary access: A reporter follows a police officer on a mental health call

By Trevor Pyle
August 11, 2020

Hannah Dreier of the Washington Post reveals the complexity of policing in her narrative of an officer, a troubled woman, a gun, and cell phone cameras

Notable Narratives

The enduring power of John Hersey’s “Hiroshima”: the first “nonfiction novel”

By Jacqui Banaszynski
August 6, 2020

On the 75th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb, Hersey's taut, unflinching story remains a masterpiece of narrative reporting

Strictly Q&A

How the “Beyonce of earthquakes” uses storytelling to explain science

By Alla Katsnelson
August 4, 2020

Seismologist Lucy Jones mixes an "alchemy" of hard data and compelling imagery to relay messages about risk and response

Personal Essays

When the bounds of conventional journalism are too tight

By Brendan Meyer
July 31, 2020

In "The Hero of Goodall Park," Tom Junod unraveled a 50-year-old secret — and helped fashion a new ending

Personal Essays

How protest songs echo — and sometimes lead — the stories of our times

By Dale Keiger
July 29, 2020

Neil Young's anti-war anthem "Ohio" was a form of activist journalism

Story Annotations

What happens when a superstar novelist is asked to profile a superstar actress?

By Monique Brouillette
July 28, 2020

Ann Patchett writes about Reese Witherspoon: No celebrity dirt, a storytelling structure, lots of dialog about books and houses and feminism

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