Clik here to view.
A true crime podcast that is more about truth than crime
EDITOR’S NOTE: “The Best Audio Storytelling: 2022” is a newly released audiobook compendium of English-language nonfiction. The collection’s curator, Julia Barton of Pushkin Industries, spoke with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
2023 Power of Narrative: Revving the story engine
By Madeline Bodin Browse through a year of articles on The Atavist Magazine website and you will see stories about a diverse collection of topics: swimming cows, abuse at an elite high school, a fossil...
View ArticleCharacter: The beating heart of narrative
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third post in our focused series on the core elements of narrative by nonfiction writer and teacher Lauren Kessler. Previous posts provided an overview of the power of...
View ArticleJournalism prizes as motivation, not destination
By Jacqui Banaszynski For four decades now, I’ve laid down a motivational challenge for myself: Can I be involved in at least one journalism project each year that wins a significant award? Regional...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“Poetic explorations” in a podcast from inside and outside prison walls
EDITOR’S NOTE: “The Best Audio Storytelling: 2022” is a newly released audiobook compendium of English-language nonfiction. The collection’s curator, Julia Barton of Pushkin Industries, spoke with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Endings: How to leave readers satisfied ~ and wanting more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the final post in our focused series on the core elements of narrative by nonfiction writer and teacher Lauren Kessler. Previous posts provided an overview of the power of...
View ArticleEnd notes: The neglected art of story walk-offs
By Jacqui Banaszynski I still remember, with a wince and a laugh, the time I was fretting over a conference keynote. I had X amount of time, X-plus amount of material and X-to-the-10th-degree amount of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When a reporter is slain, another picks up the story
By Chip Scanlan When one journalist falls, others rise to take up their cause. That’s the animating principle behind a long history of journalists completing untold stories left behind by murdered or...
View ArticleInspiration and planning for the next chapter — of life and writing
By Jacqui Banaszynski Last week life brought me one of those full-circle gifts. I’m hosting my friend Cristian Lupsa for a few days in Seattle and at the mountain cabin. I met Cristian when he was a...
View ArticleClimbing the “ladder of abstraction” to evoke empathy and elevate your message
EDITOR’S NOTE: In the spirit of transparency, Korrina Duffy wrote this post after attending a weeklong writing workshop I teach through the Madeline Island School of Arts. By Korrina Duffy “The more...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Reconstructing a murky maze of blame
By Chip Scanlan Journalism, by its very nature, focuses on the now — the events and people making the news today. But powerful stories can be found by mining the past to add fresh material and context...
View Article“… it’s not terribly unusual to see grown men crying …”
By Erik Ness Most streets worth walking — and bars worth drinking in — contain multitudes. Writers love to have choices. But with so many options available, the challenge becomes guiding a reader into...
View Article“Star Trek” as a guide to sharing intimate, personal details
EDITOR’S NOTE: Full disclosure: I was the instructor at the writing workshop summarized below. The essay was pitched by the contributor — not assigned — after a discussion about the ethics of using...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Finding the “bigger and higher purpose” to cover transgender issues and suicide
By Trevor Pyle For state legislator Karen Berg of Kentucky, the fight against anti-trans legislation was entwined with the memory of her transgender son, Henry. For reporter Willian Wan of The...
View ArticleDeadline journalism unplugged
By Jacqui Banaszynski The recent issues I could write about for Storyboard are many: the pros and cons of using a thesaurus; how we both hunger for and dread feedback on our writing; navigating the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The future of journalism in very good hands
By Lauren Kessler “We’ve got a paper to get out.” That’s the matter-of-fact directive from Zoe Toperosky to a roomful of reporters and editors. She is talking through a mask in that just-loud-enough,...
View ArticleWhat to do when pronouns can confuse
By Jacqui Banaszynski When the folks at Webster-Merriam embraced the use of “they/them” as singular pronouns, the reaction from those in the writing world ranged from relief to indignation to...
View ArticleThe necessary work of writing
By Jacqui Banaszynski For five years now, I’ve been acutely aware of the arrival of Friday mornings. Not because my datebook tells me so. Not because the weekend is ahead. But because I am suddenly...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When a migrant story trail goes cold, fresh reporting finds a deeper truth
By Chip Scanlan It was the stuff of great narrative, a dramatic saga with conflicting storylines and no clear resolution: In October 2020, British authorities and the media reported that seven...
View ArticleThe unlimited shelf life of story ideas
By Jacqui Banaszynski After our mother died, my brothers and I gathered to clean out and sell our childhood home. An inevitable part of that process was to sort through her lifetime of marriage,...
View Article