By Jacqui Banaszynski Last Thursday was momentous news in these dis-United States, bringing news I doubt I need to recap. I confess that I was held captive to radio and news sites for the six weeks of the People … Read more
By Dale Keiger If you write for a living and stay with it long enough you will accumulate a bulging folder of journeyman’s work. You don’t renounce it and you don’t brag about it. It’s the work that working … Read more
They are sweet, tart, succulent and tangy. Summer on the tongue. The mighty blackberry: as big as your thumb; a deep, inky sheen with purple highlights; a nuanced flavor with earthy undertones and hints of Pinot Noir that lends … Read more
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
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
A morning’s hasty scroll through Facebook earlier this week showed the above photo from Traci Angel, an author, teacher and freelancer based in Kansas City and a recent Storyboard contributor. In a brief post under the … Read more
