“He sat in an old chair near a particle board pinned with the yellowed obituaries of steelworker friends who died too early, including Robert Plater. 60. Cancer. A paper target practice figure hung next to the obituaries. Its heart had been blown out.”

By Kari Howard• One Great Moment• April 26, 2017

Why is it great? I promise this is the last you’ll see of Springsteen on this site for the foreseeable future. But I had somehow missed this story by one of my favorite writers (and former co-worker on the … Read more

Pinned: A boxer, a triple murder, an art mystery, a writing conference and how to get organized

By Paige Williams• Short Takes• March 21, 2014

Pinned this week for your storytelling pleasure: pieces on a jailhouse boxer, an old triple homicide in Texas, a billion dollars’ worth of recovered European art, a one-day writing conference and organizational tips. From Recommended Reading: The Paris Review’s … Read more

Pinned: Elizabeth Kolbert, Gillian Blake, Todd C. Frankel, John Jeremiah Sullivan, storytellers in trouble, a healing cruise and two schools of cliches

By Paige Williams• Short Takes• March 7, 2014

For your weekend reading pleasure, items from our Pinterest boards … Recommended Reading: A news photographer, a layoff, a death, and then things got even worse. From the John Woodrow Cox’s short “Dispatches from Next Door: … Read more

Pinned: Thanksgiving Week reading

By Paige Williams• Narrative News• November 26, 2013

Our Pinterest boards grow daily with recommended reading/watching/listening, and with storytelling tips, narrative news, gear, and more. We curate the best of the collection here on Storyboard weekly. In case you get any down time between the turkey, the … Read more

Pinned: Quests edition

By Paige Williams• Short Takes• November 15, 2013

We’ve got a few new additions to our Tip Sheets board (“Telling Big Stories,” inside the narrative machine with Matter) and Narrative News (“A Founder of Twitter Goes Long,” plus an argument for refocusing page design for narrative … Read more

Pinned: The danger edition

By Paige Williams• Short Takes• November 8, 2013

New to our Pinterest page of storytelling wonders: mosquitoes, BASE jumpers, war crimes, gas leaks, cadavers, white noise, a self-policing ex-NFL player and the “problem” with narrative interactivity. From … Read more

Pinned: Med students, firefighters, hoop dreams, an orphan in search of a family and a family in search of justice

By Paige Williams• Short Takes• October 18, 2013

Today’s theme: courage. Pinned, for your storytelling pleasure, we’ve got stories in several shades of bravery, by talented narrative journalists from Kansas City, Milwaukee, Boston, New York, Tampa and Washington, D.C. You can find all of these, and more, on … Read more

Pinned: Storyboard 75, the annotated “Frank Sinatra,” football, submersion journalism, JFK, Dave Chappelle,

By Paige Williams• Short Takes• October 11, 2013

Pinned for your storytelling pleasure, a roundup of recent great reads, vids, tips, etc.: In case you missed it, Part 1: Gay Talese and Elon Green annihilated Storyboard traffic records this week with their critically acclaimed annotation of “Frank … Read more

Pinned this week: Kang, King, Miller, Proulx, DeGregory, Le Coz + more

By Paige Williams• Short Takes• July 26, 2013

Pinned this week for your storytelling pleasure: Three great reads and some tips. And hey, don’t forget to follow us on Pinterest. Recommended reading (watching, listening, etc.): … Read more

Pinned: Jeff Bauman walks; Alice Gregory reads all of Janet Malcolm; Faulkner talks failure; plus, Tracy Kidder, Evan Ratliff, how to do an oral history narrative, and more

By Paige Williams• Short Takes• July 12, 2013

Are you following us on Pinterest? We pin something almost daily, in addition to our regular publishing days here: great reads, useful apps, reporting and writing gear, interviews, timeless pieces from our archives and more. Join us! Pinned this … Read more