Short Takes

Reading (Stephen King) to learn to write

A "starter's guide" to the king of terror, from the New York Times, is a reminder of that learning comes through many forms

By Jacqui Banaszynski • June 3, 2020

A day-in-the-life profile of a grocery store during the coronavirus shutdown

A Los Angeles Times story from inside a grocery store reveals the power of detail, dialog and a tight narrative frame

By Trevor Pyle • June 2, 2020

One Great Moment

“… the only true medicine I could provide.”

Dr. Jesse Charles, from his time volunteering at Brooklyn Hospital Center during coronavirus

By Jacqui Banaszynski • May 29, 2020

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Strictly Q&A

A “nut case” buys a mountain town newspaper to save it

By Jacqui Banaszynki

May 6, 2020

Four months after acting on impulse, what has a non-journalist local hero learned about the romance and reality of journalism?

Narrative News

Congratulations to the 2020 Pulitzer Prize winners

By Jacqui Banaszynski

May 4, 2020

Each year, the bar on aspirational journalism is pushed higher, evident in daily dedication to the mission of public service

One Great Moment

“How was it I had let all wonder, all curiosity, seep from me?”

By Jacqui Banaszynski

May 1, 2020

Esi Edugyan, from her novel "Washington Black"

Narrative News

Where writers write when they can’t write where they like to write

By Matt Tullis

April 29, 2020

The pandemic-related shutdown of habitual writing refuges and routines have left writers cobbling new options

From the Editor

Take small steps to tell the big story: Make free writing a daily discipline

By Jacqui Banaszynski

April 28, 2020

Take notice of what's right in front of you, and capture it with some version of the free write

Story Craft

Building writing muscles — a postcard a day

By Greg Bowers

April 28, 2020

An award-winning sports reporter learns to relax his professional writing by penning personal notes on postcards

Story Craft

A Writer’s Survival Guide: Tips for defying distraction

By Kim Cross

April 23, 2020

One moderately productive, relatively-sane freelancer’s approach to writing through a crisis

Story Craft

Deadline writing when the world is in chaos, your house is imploding and kids are home from school

By Kim Cross

April 22, 2020

While much of the world has altered its pace during the coronavirus, deadline demands have not

Story Annotations

Can deep reporting answer the ultimate coronavirus question: How will it end?

By Monique Brouilette

April 21, 2020

Atlantic staff writer Ed Yong pulled threads of science, politics, economics and psychology to chart the path to an unknown future

Story Craft

Teaching narrative in the time of coronavirus

By R.B. Brenner

April 16, 2020

A former Washington Post editor retrofits a journalism class at Stanford — and finds many of the best reporting tools still fit

Story Annotations

A religion reporter profiles a charismatic community drawn to a “miracle Bible”

By Trevor Pyle

April 14, 2020

Slate's Ruth Graham leans on local newspaper reports, expertise in religion coverage and a history in the evangelical church to write oil, faith and politics

Narrative News

When the narrative becomes the disease

By Roy Peter Clark

April 13, 2020

History repeats as the coronavirus gets framed in stories that scapegoat