Search results for “writing the book”

Showing 1161 results

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, part 4: plot

[This last installment in a four-part series on writing historical narratives focuses on the importance of plot in nonfiction storytelling. The series is based on a lecture given by Adam Hochschild…
April 11, 2011
Michael Paterniti on the legacy of Gitmo: “I didn’t want to turn it into some neat parable”

Michael Paterniti on the legacy of Gitmo: “I didn’t want to turn it into some neat parable”

We recently posted our latest Editors’ Roundtable, which dissected “The Boy from Gitmo” by Mike Paterniti. A National Magazine Award winner (and a seven-time finalist), Paterniti writes for GQ and…
April 7, 2011
April Editors' Roundtable: GQ dives into the personal consequences of war

April Editors’ Roundtable: GQ dives into the personal consequences of war

Stop shopping for your Easter bonnet, and put down those 1040s – it's time for a new Editors' Roundtable! This session, our editors are looking at Michael Paterniti's “The Boy from…
April 6, 2011
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, part 3: character

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, part 3: character

[This third installment in a four-part series on writing historical narratives focuses on the importance of characters. The series is based on a lecture given by Adam Hochschild at Vanderbilt University…
April 5, 2011

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, part 2: setting

[This second installment in a four-part series on writing historical narratives focuses on the importance of setting and scenes in nonfiction storytelling. The series is based on a lecture given by…
March 28, 2011
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, part 1

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, part 1

[This four-part series on storytelling and historical narratives is based on a talk given at Vanderbilt University in February 2011.]Half a century ago, the novelist and physicist C.P. Snow wrote…
March 25, 2011
March Editors' Roundtable: Mother Jones looks at rape in Haiti

March Editors’ Roundtable: Mother Jones looks at rape in Haiti

The narrative for discussion in the second installment of our Editors’  Roundtable is “Welcome to Haiti's Reconstruction Hell” by Mac McClelland. Appearing in Mother Jones earlier this year, the story was written after…
March 3, 2011
Jeanne Marie Laskas on voice, point of view and accountability to her subjects: "this is the human story of a guy suffering"

Jeanne Marie Laskas on voice, point of view and accountability to her subjects: "this is the human story of a guy suffering"

In our latest Notable Narrative, “The People V. Football,” GQ correspondent Jeanne Marie Laskas looks at a former football player who has already lost much of his life and is…
February 25, 2011
Lawrence Wright on Scientology, legal pads and creating a "universe of possible sources"

Lawrence Wright on Scientology, legal pads and creating a "universe of possible sources"

The New Yorker put the “long” in long-form this week with “The Apostate: Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology,” a piece by Lawrence Wright that weighs in at around…
February 18, 2011
Death, truth and memoir: the debate over Joyce Carol Oates' "A Widow's Story"

Death, truth and memoir: the debate over Joyce Carol Oates’ "A Widow’s Story"

What is it that we really want from memoir? The kerfuffle this week over “A Widow’s Story,” a narrative from Joyce Carol Oates about the loss of her husband and…
February 17, 2011