Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University

Table of Contents:
Telling True Stories Acknowledgments Preface Part I: An Invitation to Narrative Stories Matter by Jacqui Banaszynski Delving into Private Lives by Gay Talese The Narrative Idea by David Halberstam Difficult Journalism That's Slap-Up Fun by Katherine Boo Part II: Finding, Researching, and Reporting Topics Introduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy Call Finding Good Topics: A Writer's Questions by Lane DeGregory Finding Good Topics: An Editor's Questions by Jan Winburn Reporting for Narrative: Ten Overlapping Rules by Mark Kramer To Tape or Not to Tape? by Adam Hochschild, Jacqui Banaszynski, Jon Franklin, and Gay Talese Interviewing: Accelerated Intimacy by Isabel Wilkerson The Psychological Interview by Jon Franklin Participatory Reporting: Sending Myself to Prison by Ted Conover Being There by Anne Hull Not Always Being There by Louise Kiernan Reporting Across Cultures by Victor Merina Reporting on Your Own by S. Mitra Kalita Field Notes to Full Draft by Tracy Kidder Doing Enough Reporting? by Walt Harrington From Story Idea to Published Story by Cynthia Gorney (Narrative) J School for People Who Never Went by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc Part III: Name Your Subgenre Introduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy Call Profiles by Jacqui Banaszynski The Ladder of Abstraction by Roy Peter Clark Every Profile Is an Epic Story by Tomas Alex Tizon The Limits of Profiles by Malcolm Gladwell Travel Writing: Inner and Outer Journeys by Adam Hochschild The Personal Essay and the First-Person Character by Phillip Lopate First Personal Singular: Sometimes, It Is About You by DeNeen L. Brown Columns: Intimate Public Conversations by Donna Britt Writing About History by Jill Lepore Adventures in History by Melissa Fay Greene Narrative Investigative Writing by Katherine Boo Public Radio: Community Storytelling by Jay Allison Part IV: Constructing a Structure Introduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy Call What Narrative Writers Can Learn from Screenwriters by Nora Ephron To Begin the Beginning by DeNeen L. Brown Narrative Distance by Jack Hart Hearing Our Subjects' Voices: Quotes and Dialogue by Kelley Benham Hearing Our Subjects' Voices: Keeping It Real and True by Debra Dickerson Weaving Story and Idea by Nicholas Lemann Endings by Bruce DeSilva Part V: Building Quality into the Work Introduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy Call Character by Jon Franklin Details Matter by Walt Harrington Developing Character by Stanley Nelson Reconstructing Scenes by Adam Hochschild A Reconstructed Scene by Adam Hochschild Setting the Scene by Mark Kramer Handling Time by Bruce DeSilva Sequencing: Text as Line by Tom French Writing Complicated Stories by Louise Kiernan How I Get to the Point by Walt Harrington The Emotional Core of the Story by Tom Wolfe Telling the Story, Telling the Truth by Alma Guillermoprieto On Voice by Susan Orlean Part VI: Ethics Introduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy Call The Line Between Fact and Fiction by Roy Peter Clark Toward an Ethical Code for Narrative Journalists by Walt Harrington Playing Fair with Subjects by Isabel Wilkerson Securing Consent by Tracy Kidder Truth and Consequences by Katherine Boo Dealing with Danger: Protecting Your Subject and Your Story by Sonia Nazario A Dilemma of Immersion Journalism by Anne Hull Ethics in Personal Writing by Debra Dickerson Taking Liberties: The Ethics of the Truth by Loung Ung The Ethics of Attribution by Roy Peter Clark What About Endnotes? by Sonia Nazario and Nicholas Lemann Part VII: Editing Introduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy Call On Style by Emily Hiestand A Writer and Editor Talk Shop by Jan Winburn and Lisa Pollak Revising--Over and Over Again by Anne Hull Transforming One Hundred Notebooks into Thirty-five Thousand Words by Sonia Nazario How to Come Up Short by Tom Hallman Narrative in Four Boxes by Jacqui Banaszynski Serial Narratives by Tom French Care and Feeding of Editors and Writers by Jacqui Banaszynski Part VIII: Narrative in the News Organization Introduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy Call Beginning in Narrative by Walt Harrington A Brief History of Narrative in Newspaper by Jack Hart Nurturing Narrative in the Newsroom by Jack Hart A Storyteller's Lexicon by Jack Hart Narrative as a Daily Habit by Lane DeGregory Building a Narrative Team by Maria Carrillo Two Visions, One Series: A Writer and an Editor Talk About What They Do by Jacqui Banaszynski and Tomas Alex Tizon Team Storytelling by Louise Kiernan Photographer as Narrative Storyteller by Molly Bingham Subversive Storytellers: Starting a Narrative Group by Bob Batz Jr. Part IX: Building a Career in Magazines and Books Introduction by Mark Kramer and Wendy Call Making It as a Freelancer by Jim Collins Not Stopping: Time Management for Writers by Stewart O'Nan Lessons from the Jury Box by Jack Hart Working with an Agent by Melissa Fay Greene What Makes a Good Book? by Helene Atwan From Book Idea to Book Contract by Jim Collins Your Book and the Marketplace by Geri Thoma Crossing Over: From Advocacy to Narrative by Samantha Power A Passion for Writing by Susan Orlean Suggested Reading Web Sites and Internet Resources About the Editors About the Contributors Index

About the Author :
Mark Kramer was writer-in-residence in the American Studies Program at Smith College (1980-1990), writer-in-residence and a professor of journalism at Boston University (1990-2001), and writer-in-residence and founding director of the Nieman Program on Narrative Journalism at Harvard University (2001-2007). He's written for the New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, The Atlantic Monthly, and many other periodicals. He's co-author of two leading textbook/readers on narrative nonfiction: Telling True Stories and Literary Journalism. He's written four additional books: Mother Walter and the Pig Tragedy, Three Farms, Invasive Procedures, and Travels with a Hungry Bear. He's currently at work on a book about writing narrative nonfiction. His website is www.tellingtruestories.com. Wendy Call is author of No Word for Welcome: The Mexican Village Faces the Global Economy, winner of the 2011 Grub Street National Book Prize for Nonfiction. She co-edited Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide. Wendy has served as Writer in Residence at 20 institutions, five national parks, four universities, a public hospital, and a historical archive. She writes and edits nonfiction, translates Mexican poetry and short fiction, and works as a teacher at Richard Hugo House and Goddard College. Before turning to full-time word-working in 2000, she devoted a decade to work for social change organizations in Boston and Seattle. The daughter of a middle-school math teacher and a career Navy officer from Michigan, Wendy grew up on and around military bases in Florida, Pennsylvania, southern California, and southern Maryland. She lives and works in Seattle.

Review :
“Tantalizing essays… Ultimately this is a book about why stories matter and how journalists can and should master the craft of storytelling, whether they work in newspapers, magazines, books, radio, television, or film… [B]rims with wisdom on how to get to the emotional core of nonfiction stories. It contains useful advice on everything from how to get people to open up… to how to distill all the material you have gathered into a polished story that glues readers to the page… This is the kind of book that any aspiring storyteller can dip into and learn from, no matter what the stage of his or her career.”—Alison Bass, Harvard Review   “Tips spill from every chapter of the book… Every page—and I mean every page—contains important wisdom for every journalist. Telling True Stories is the relatively rare guide that offers value to veteran journalists, to novices, to investigative journalists and to beat reporters.—Steve Weinberg, The IRE Journal   “A virtuoso collection of essays by writers on writing non-fiction; these remarkable insights into the craft were collected at Harvard University and includes selections from such notable veteran scribes as Tom Wolfe, Tracy Kidder, Susan Orlean, David Halberstam, Nora Ephron and Malcolm Gladwell.”—The Seattle Post-Intelligencer    “Practical advice for writers on how to get published, write a memoir, and more.”—Boston Magazine   “Provides advice from 51 nonfiction writers, including notables Tom Wolfe, Gay Talese, and Nora Ephron… Writers coming to this book should not expect one clear-cut path for producing strong nonfiction; instead, the book provides pointed but wide-ranging advice on writing-a good illustration of the creativity behind nonfiction and the individuality of the writing process. There is enough variety for almost any nonfiction writer to find inspiration and guidance. Topics include interviewing techniques, storytelling, using tape recorders and notebooks, developing characters and scenes, and editing. The section titled ‘Building a Career in Magazines and Books’ will especially help new writers.”—Library Journal