Oh, the nut graf. I had to mentally brace myself to write about it. After all these years, it’s still the hardest thing I write. I tell students that all the time. I want them to know it’s not … Read more
When I’m working with writers on their nut grafs — and when I’m struggling with some version of a nut graf of my own — I seek guidance in examples where the storyteller nailed the point right away. Homer, … Read more
I love a good nut graph. After a meaty description of a scene or complex idea that pulls me into a story, my brain wants to know why I just read those paragraphs. The nut graph tells the reader … Read more
My assignment was to answer this question: “Do you have a method for teaching or guiding what we often call the “nut graf?” The request came from Jacqui Banaszynski, editor of Nieman Storyboard. She and I are old newsroom … Read more
Here is a self-editing origin story: I was back from my first truly big reporting assignment, which was to cover the 1984-85 famine in the sub-Sahara. I was exhausted, emotional about what I had seen, and … Read more
The behemoth of Twitter has been a game-changer for journalism. It has become a tool for breaking stories, making — or breaking — careers, calling attention to issues, and giving a platform to people who long were denied a … Read more
For many Americans, COVID news has joined the thrum of everyday life. But Charles Pierce warned readers in a recent newsletter the crisis shouldn’t be allowed to be part of the wallpaper. It should shriek like a siren — … Read more
It was while listening to a Tamil story on Spotify that the thought occurred to me: Listening to stories in vernacular Indian languages had changed my writing. Some of the influence came from the cadences of speech. Some came … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This post was published in partnership with our friends at the Poynter Institute. As the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11 looms, I am reminded of one of my favorite anthologies of journalism: … Read more
How do you write about a shared event that changes the world, but that we each experience personally? And how do you then share that personal experience back to the world in a meaningful way? I’ve been pondering those … Read more
