Search results for “writing the book”

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The implications of plot lines in illness and memoir

Narrative therapy uses a client’s life story to shine a spotlight on how he understands his experience. The concept of an “illness narrative” emerged not in a literary context but over…

"Why’s this so good?" No. 2: McPhee takes on the Mississippi

When the Mississippi River recently surged down through the middle of the country, a lot of people I follow on Twitter took the opportunity to point to John McPhee's marvelous 1987…
July Editors' Roundtable No. 1: the St. Petersburg Times' snapshot between before and after

July Editors’ Roundtable No. 1: the St. Petersburg Times’ snapshot between before and after

For the first Roundtable of July, our editors looked at “Diving headlong into a sunny paradise” by Lane DeGregory of the St. Petersburg Times. The story follows a young Wisconsin…
A new way into an old story: Adam Hochschild on "To End All Wars"

A new way into an old story: Adam Hochschild on "To End All Wars"

Adam Hochschild, a longtime supporter of the Nieman Foundation’s narrative program, published a new book last month, “To End All Wars.” A former editor of Mother Jones magazine, Hochschild lives…

Words about pictures: Errol Morris’ digital script

In our latest Notable Narrative, “Did My Brother Invent E-Mail with Tom Van Vleck?,” Errol Morris rejects many of the standard rules of narrative writing.Best known for his films “The…

"Why's this so good?" – a collaboration on the magic of long-form stories

We’re excited to announce a new feature that we’ll be rolling out next week on Nieman Storyboard. “Why’s This So Good?” will explore what makes classic narrative nonfiction stories worth…
Jerry Brewer on change-up pitches, round characters and how to ruin a perfectly good column

Jerry Brewer on change-up pitches, round characters and how to ruin a perfectly good column

In our last post, the Editors’ Roundtable looked at a Seattle Times column about a record-setting Girl Scout cookie-seller who got to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Seattle…
June Editors' Roundtable No. 2: The Seattle Times, a first pitch, and the Queen of Samoas

June Editors’ Roundtable No. 2: The Seattle Times, a first pitch, and the Queen of Samoas

We're fine-tuning our Editors’ Roundtable, moving toward more frequent postings and smaller groups of editors looking at each story. As part of those changes, today we highlight our second June…

Slow violence and environmental storytelling

Strategies to plot and give shape to formless threats whose fatal repercussions are dispersed across space and time
June Editors' Roundtable: The Washington Post finds order in chaos

June Editors’ Roundtable: The Washington Post finds order in chaos

For the first Roundtable of the month, our editors looked at “Ala. tornado twists two families together” by Stephanie McCrummen from The Washington Post. The story, published early in May,…