Search results for “so you want to write a book”

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"Why’s this so good?" No. 76: William Nack and "Pure Heart"

I still remember where I was—sitting in a dive bar in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., trying to tune out the noise from the beach bums and a jukebox blaring Madonna and…
April 23, 2013
"How'd you find that secret-compartments story, Brendan Koerner?"

"How’d you find that secret-compartments story, Brendan Koerner?"

Brendan Koerner’s recent Wired piece about Alfred Anaya, a “genius at installing secret compartments in cars,” was nothing short of delicious as a piece of storytelling and discovery. Sure, someone’s out…
April 5, 2013

"Why’s this so good?" No. 74: Charlie Pierce and Tiger Woods

I think it’s fair to say that most of America was shocked when news of Tiger Woods’ sex scandal broke in late 2009. I’m also pretty sure that anyone who…
March 26, 2013

"Why’s this so good?" No. 73: Carol Smith and the cipher in Room 214

In all likelihood, “The Cipher in Room 214” began with a fairly empty notebook. Most stories do, but in this case it probably looked like it was going to stay that…
March 12, 2013

Work the problem: How to look at your own stories more objectively

Our storytelling advice column continues: A journalist asks a question and we find an accomplished narrative writer or editor to answer it. In our first installment, Dave Tarrant of the Dallas Morning…
February 14, 2013

"Why’s this so good?" No. 71: John Jeremiah Sullivan and "Upon This Rock"

Last summer, John Jeremiah Sullivan wrote an essay about Faulkner’s Absalom! Absalom!, and amid his deft and borderline genius thoughts on the novel – “It…dramatize[s] historical consciousness itself, not just human lives but the…
February 12, 2013
Thomas Curwen and the brave young man

Thomas Curwen and the brave young man

Our new Notable Narrative is “A young man’s fateful dance with death,” in which Thomas Curwen of the Los Angeles Times elegantly chronicles 19-year-old Jesús García’s struggle with a brain tumor.…
February 1, 2013
Work the problem: "How do you prospect for narrative beyond the obvious?"

Work the problem: "How do you prospect for narrative beyond the obvious?"

This is the inaugural installment of Work the Problem, a storytelling advice column featuring everyday craft quandaries and a roving band of narrative sages. Today's players:>Dave Tarrant, reporter, Dallas Morning…
January 25, 2013

“Why’s this so good?” No. 69: William Hazlitt and Liber Amoris

Another writer introduced me to William Hazlitt’s Liber Amoris as if he were passing along a tip to eat in a restaurant with great food but clumsy waiters. “It’s not for everybody,”…
January 15, 2013

"Why’s this so good?" No. 67: Dan P. Lee and Travis the killer chimp

It was a sideshow story whose horror was so extravagant that it bordered on vulgarity: On Feb. 16, 2009, a 14-year-old male chimpanzee named Travis, who had been raised from…
December 4, 2012