This is an edited version of a talk Laurie Hertzel gave at the 2005 Nieman Seminar for Narrative Editors. Her remarks were part of a joint presentation with Rick Meyer, who spoke about developing characters. Scenes are the backbone … Read more
Kruse drove with a minor league baseball player from New York State to Florida for Spring training. The player, Alex Trezza, lives his life around baseball, but his chances of playing for the Major League are slim. Kruse’s piece is … Read more
This is a six-part series about an alternative school for struggling kids in Essex County, N.J. The piece gets close to kids whom others might dismiss—just as the school does. It’s an effective and affecting account. We notice the structure: … Read more
Mark Sheppard is an ordinary guy who took a job that he felt was his calling: He helps people—most of them with special needs—learn how to navigate their world by bus. DeGregory has a knack for portraying character … Read more
Dick Cheney’s 2004 campaign has denied Lyman a seat on Air Force Two, so he hopscotches around the country by commercial plane, trying to keep up. It’s a case in which writing a how-I-got-the-story story can work—and in this case, … Read more
This six-part narrative is now a classic, instructive for its solid structure, rounded characters and close reporting. Notice the ways that Zuckoff weaves medical background and the details of Naia’s case into the narrative. He also reports finely, choosing pertinent … Read more
How did Lewan make this piece so compelling? Of course, the event is made for narrative. But notice how it’s told: the relentlessly active verbs—the ship teeters and plunges, the water sloshes, the windspeed spikes—the vivid detail, strong pace and … Read more
When Bill Adair e-mailed us this piece, he wrote, “It’s an instant narrative. Just add water.” The action, tension, suspense—they’re ready-made. We notice the effective use of team reporting, which enables the reader to be in many places at once. Read more
How many leads can you think of that focus on smell? We admire the first seven paragraphs of this piece. They’re evocative, authoritative and efficient. Kiernan told an audience at the 2003 Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism that she did … Read more
In the series of which this piece is a part, the Times used narrative and insightful reporting to uncover the often hidden ways that race is “lived” in America. Egan writes about two Washington State politicians—Gary Locke, a Chinese-American, and … Read more
