Related Links
WriterL
A subscription-only listserve focusing on literary journalism. Co-founded by Jon Franklin, author of Writing for Story, and Lynn Franklin, who also moderates the discussion.
River Teeth
A biannual journal of nonfiction narrative.
Points of Entry
Subtitled "Cross-currents in Storytelling," this journal advocates narrative in journalism and journalism education.
Nieman on Narrative
Special issue of Nieman Reports.
Narrative Conference
Read about the 2001 Nieman Narrative Journalism Conference in Boston. See reviews of numerous speakers, including Rick Bragg, Tom French, and Isabel Wilkerson.
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An Unbreakable Spirit
This five-part series in the Asheville Citizen-Times features a crippled 9-year-old from Honduras and a humble landscaper from North Carolina who had never traveled outside the country. In her first stab at a major narrative project, Susan Reinhardt tells the tale of this unlikely couple -- the landscaper promises to help and the boy keeps dreaming of walking. Published in 2001.
From the writer
Susan Reinhardt writes:
"In the winter of 2001, a woman in western North Carolina called to tell
me about a humble, low-key landscaper who had flown to Honduras with the
church, and come home with more than a few snapshots and memories.
He'd returned with a plan. An unstoppable plan.
The man, 26-year-old Shawn Earnest, was a traveling novice, having
never been outside the country. He decided to join the Baptist church as
they spent 10 days in a small village near Tegucigalpa building
churches. On the first night there, he met the child he couldn't forget.
He saw those legs he couldn't erase from his mind. He heard others talk
about promises made and never delivered, promises they'd return for the
9-year-old and bring him to America for surgery to repair the warped,
crippled bones.
The boy, Ledin Rodas, had never, ever walked. Shawn told him he
would.
It took a year, but Shawn delivered on his promise, astounding all who
had written him off as a college drop-out and someone who starts but
doesn't finish projects.
I got involved in the story that winter, followed Shawn and Ledin
through everything but the surgery. The hospital wouldn't allow me into
the surgical suite during the invasive procedure, which I really regret.
To create the scene as if I were there, I spent hours in the empty OR
room with nurses, doctors and technicians who assisted. I also read and
fleshed out hospital reports and doctor's notes. I think we got an
accurate picture, but I'd have rather been there in person. The key to
this type of writing, I've learned, is to be present, in the moment, as
much and as often as possible.
For the next six months I followed the two often. From the smallest
progress to the powerful turning point - the removal of the casts -
revealing new, beautiful legs. A photographer and I were present during
Ledin's painful physical therapy sessions and the happy times he spent
on top of the fire trucks at the local department.
I also was there when he first rode a three-wheeler and took those
first, early steps on his walker.
We followed up the story a year later. Ledin, now 10, can walk and is a
normal little boy, back in school and doing well.
I learned the techniques of narrative writing by reading Jon Franklin,
Tom French, Anne Hull, Tom Hallman, and many of the others who are
posted on this site. For those wanting to learn narrative writing, I
would suggest reading as many of the masters of the craft as possible. I
made mistakes, but for my first effort, I was pleased with how most of
it turned out.
The series won the Top Well Done for the Gannett Corporation contest."
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Tales Under 2,000 Words
Sure six-part packages that took eight months to report are great, but here's a collection of shorter pieces that show the power of story.
Other Categories
Death & Dying
Children
Disasters
Sports
Military
Archives
November 2002
September 2002
Classics
The best stories last beyond the next morning's edition.
3 Little Words
Roy Peter Clark's "breakfast serial" chronicles a family struggling with AIDS. Published in the St. Petersburg Times in 1996, it was broken up into 29 chapters, each less than 1,000 words.
Black Hawk Down
Mark Bowden's detailed account of the Somalia fiasco. How many other newspaper series do you know that were made into Hollywood blockbusters?
More Classics...
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