Narrative News

A creative daily distraction became a journey of discovery

Retired sports editor Cathy Henkel turned her ephemeral art-and-storytelling project into a book at the request of fans and to support kids

By Jacqui Banaszynski • March 4, 2021

The last day of Cathy Henkel's

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Story Annotations

How and why Katie Engelhart followed a woman’s journey to her “final exit”

A California Sunday Magazine profile of a woman with dementia is included in Engelhart's new book on right-to-die issues

By Chip Scanlan • March 3, 2021

Why's This So Good?

Pulitzer winner Ellen Barry solved a mystery, then questioned the mysteries of truth

"Reader, I should confess that I wanted to write the story."

By Rashi Shrivastava • March 2, 2021

Featured Contributors

Chip Scanlan

Chip Scanlan

Julia Shipley

Julia Shipley

Roy Peter Clark

Roy Peter Clark

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Writing tips The Pitch Freelancing Pitching stories Story structure
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Story Craft

Who, How and Why? What we can learn from an interview with the Super Bowl streaker

By Jacqui Banaszynski and Lane DeGregory
February 12, 2021

Lane DeGregory of the Tampa Bay Times follows her curiosity to find the scamp who interrupted the Super Bowl

One Great Moment

“… equal was the one thing all men were not.”

By Jacqui Banaszynski
February 10, 2021

Rye Dolan in the novel "The Cold Millions," by Jess Walter

Why's This So Good?

Videos taken by Parler users from the U.S. Capitol assault tell a valuable story

By Alexander Trowbridge
February 9, 2021

ProPublica collected banned videos of the insurrection from Parler posts to archive that historic day

Personal Essays

Jumpstart your writing routine: coffee, journals, sketches and postcards

By Jill U. Adams
February 4, 2021

A science freelancer works her way out of COVID malaise with morning writing rituals

Story Annotations

How the magic of mushrooms inspired magical science writing about ecology

By Alla Katsnelson
February 3, 2021

Ferris Jabr follows a forest ecologist into the woods to listen to the conversations that happen above and below ground

From the Editor

Five days and five senses: Free writing as a daily practice

By Jacqui Banaszynski
February 2, 2021

Prompts to help you build stronger writing muscles every day

Personal Essays

How 66 days of shell art helped a retired journalist rediscover her writing voice

By Cathy Henkel
January 29, 2021

Retired sports editor Cathy Henkel created a daily countdown to the presidential inauguration in shells and stones, and found herself telling stories

Narrative News

“We start with more questions than answers…”

By Jacqui Banaszynski
January 27, 2021

Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron in a retirement letter to the staff

Narrative News

An imperfectly perfect photo that honored content over style

By Jacqui Banaszynski
January 26, 2021

The photographer who took the soon-to-be-memed image of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders at the presidential inauguration tells Rolling Stone why he chose it

Notable Narratives

Lessons in the purpose of poetic language from a presidential inauguration

By Roy Peter Clark
January 21, 2021

Writing master Roy Peter Clark reflects on the power of words in politics, and how they mirror the times we live in

Narrative News

America’s first hip-hop inaugural poem ties history to the present, optimism to urgency

By Lisa Grace Lednicer
January 21, 2021

Youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman draws on Hamilton, MLK, scripture and slavery to capture and prod America in the moment

Story Craft

#4 rule of pitching: Know what’s come before

By Jacqui Banaszynski
January 20, 2021

The lack of a simple clips search can tank your idea

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