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

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

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

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
August 11, 2020
The enduring power of John Hersey's "Hiroshima": the first "nonfiction novel"

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

On the 75th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb, Hersey's taut, unflinching story remains a masterpiece of narrative reporting
August 6, 2020
How the "Beyonce of earthquakes" uses storytelling to explain science

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

Call her the “Beyonce of earthquakes” or simply “the Earthquake Lady.” But when the foundations get shaky — whether it’s during a temblor or, now, a pandemic — Lucy Jones…
August 4, 2020
When the bounds of conventional journalism are too tight

When the bounds of conventional journalism are too tight

I’ll go great lengths not to affect a story during the reporting process. Journalists are supposed to be the observer, not the actor, right? Our job is to witness and…
July 31, 2020
What happens when a superstar novelist is asked to profile a superstar actress?

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

Ann Patchett writes about Reese Witherspoon: No celebrity dirt, a storytelling structure, lots of dialog about books and houses and feminism
July 28, 2020
If no one reads the news, did it happen?

If no one reads the news, did it happen?

The self-checkout line at my funky neighborhood grocery was wide open, but I waited for the old-fashioned line, with a checker and a bagger. I don’t like to weigh my…
July 22, 2020
How to become a "five-tool" storyteller

How to become a “five-tool” storyteller

Major League Baseball, that beloved summer sport, returns to a shortened season later this month. Or at least it is scheduled to, but as with all things in the time…
July 14, 2020
Four questions mine for bottomless wisdom

Four questions mine for bottomless wisdom

During the 15 years that Chip Scanlan taught writing workshops at the Poynter Institute, he wrote a popular column called “Chip on Your Shoulder.” Searching Poynter’s archives takes some work,…
July 10, 2020
Navigating ethics, culture and safety to immerse in immigration and Covid

Navigating ethics, culture and safety to immerse in immigration and Covid

At first glance, there are few frills or fireworks in “Tatiana’s Luck,” Hannah Dreier ‘s profile of an immigrant living in a crowded New Jersey house stalked by COVID-19. In the…
July 8, 2020
Rejecting the simplified news narrative

Rejecting the simplified news narrative

While reading the news in 2017, filmmaker Erin Lee Carr first saw the “very wide, intense eyes” of Michelle Carter. She looked like a “deer in headlights,” Carr said. At the time, Carter was on trial in Massachussetts on charges of…
July 2, 2020