Country music lessons
By Jacqui Banaszynski My radio options are minimal on long stretches of the drive from my city house to the mountain cabin. When I lose a signal altogether, I lean into the silence — no interest in a...
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Think your book is done? Think again
By Mallary Tenore Tarpley As a first-time author, I’ve spent the past four years writing and reporting my debut nonfiction book, “SLIP: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery.” It’s been such a...
View ArticleThe allusions and confusions of regional references
By Jacqui Banaszynski Friends and former colleagues from the Upper Midwest have had grand fun in the last few weeks watching a Minnesota vibe infect national politics. Mountain Editor sends frequent...
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When you can’t paint over problems and need to tear your story down to the studs
By Joanne Sasvari Two years ago, my husband and I fulfilled a longtime dream when we bought a small fixer-upper in the lovely city of Victoria, British Columbia. It’s not a particularly handsome house...
View ArticleBang that keyboard and jazz up your writing
By Esther Wei-Yun Landhuis In spring 2020, while some FaceTimed or baked bread or pursued other pandemic hobbies, I bought an electronic drum kit. I watched YouTube to learn some basic rock beats....
View ArticleSetting up the next chapter of life’s story
By Jacqui Banaszynski Work as a journalist long enough, or at least start as a journalist long enough ago, and “-30-” was a standard part of your newsroom language. It was typed at the bottom of every...
View ArticleHow investigative master Seymour Hersh broke the story of the My Lai massacre
By Richard Read After six days crossing the Soviet Union on the Trans-Siberian railway, I stumbled from the chill of a winter evening into the warmth of The New York Times Moscow bureau. The fragrance...
View ArticleFrom majesty to mystery in one graf
By Liz Seegert I was scrolling the social media platform Threads when I happened upon one of those ledes that makes you keep reading. Which is what I did — through 5,000 words of story about...
View ArticleThe power of a note, especially one that says ‘thank you’
By Jacqui Banaszynski I’m still here, officially, for another three weeks (through the end of September). After that, I hope to show up on the Nieman Storyboard site as a contributor in ways that...
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100 ways to paint (or write) the same thing
By Jill U. Adams “I could paint this 100 different ways.” Artist Sarah Yeoman blithely delivered this claim at a watercolor workshop I attended. She was demonstrating small painting studies focused on...
View ArticleAre you really listening?
By Jacqui Banaszynski A reporter friend once told me that interviewing, for him, was a “full-body sport.” His toss-off comment was a Yes! moment for me. It crystallized why, when I finished a...
View ArticleAre you the next editor of Storyboard?
Great job for the right person who has the right passion and knowledge about this important work we call narrative nonfiction: The Nieman Foundation for Journalism, based at Harvard University, is in...
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How a freelancer’s story instincts landed a piece in The New York Times
By Kim Cross Three weeks after the nation’s deadliest wildfire in a century blackened a huge swath in Maui, freelance journalist Erika Hayasaki felt called to go there and tell the story. At home in...
View Article5 shared lessons from some masters of narrative nonfiction
EDITOR’S NOTE: A version of this piece is co-posted with our friends at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism. By Grace Kenyon When I went to journalism...
View ArticleWriting to find out what you want to write
By Jacqui Banaszynski Last Friday, my penultimate Friday newsletter as editor of Storyboard invited you to consider whether you’re the right next person for the role. (I wrote that sentence as a small...
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Daring to bring humor and wonder to serious subjects
By Laurie Hertzel Tom Whipple’s recent story in the Times of London about the reappearance of beavers in Devon, England, could have been a deeply serious science piece, laden with facts, numbers and...
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A new freelance business works like a “dating app for fact-checking”
By Madeline Bodin Seattle-based freelance journalist Wudan Yan is a founder, producer and host of The Writers’ Co-op podcast. She’s a business coach, a content marketing writer and an advocate for fair...
View ArticlePygmy nuthatches, fountain pens, yellowed clips and time ahead
By Jacqui Banaszynski More than a few friends have asked what I planned to write my last essay as the editor of Nieman Storyboard (published Sept. 27, 2024). One headed his email: “Here’s to a...
View Article13 ways to consider an interview
By Dale Keiger I once estimated how many bylined pieces I’ve published in my five decades of scribbling for money. Including everything from 300-word bleats to 8,000-word slabs, I believe I’ve written...
View ArticleUpcoming 2024 Narrative Non-Fiction Prizes
The Nobels announced last week mostly honor achievement in the sciences (with one prize for literature), but if you think no bells ring for the narrative nonfiction practitioner, think again. The True...
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