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Essays on Craft

From 2006 to 2010, the Nieman Narrative Digest site offered Essays on Craft, generously contributed by veteran journalists to help aspiring storytellers learn the fundamentals of narrative writing. In June 2010, the Nieman Foundation folded key elements of the Digest into the Nieman Storyboard site, including this complete archive of those essays.

Additional essays are available in the archives of our sister site, Nieman Reports, and in the book Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University, edited by Wendy Call and former Nieman narrative program director Mark Kramer.

Rebecca Allen

News Feature v. Narrative: What’s the Difference?

Special to the Digest

Roy Peter Clark

The Line Between Fact and Fiction

Creative Nonfiction

Roy Peter Clark

The Persuasive Narrator

Special to the Digest

Michael Pollan

Natural Narratives

Special to the Digest

Peter Manseau

The Four Noble Truths of Religion Writing

Special to the Digest

Mark Kramer

Voice and Meaning

Special to the Digest

Bruce DeSilva

Endings

Special to the Digest

Christopher Scanlan

The Heart Attack Beat

Special to the Digest

Adam Hochschild

First Person Singular: It’s not just about you

Special to the Digest

Barry Siegel

Why We Should Care: Writing Well about Endangered Kids

Special to the Digest

Adrian Nicole LeBlanc

Stories Are Everywhere

Special to the Digest

Douglas McGill

War-at-Home Narratives, Their Promise and Failures

Special to the Digest

David Hertz

The Akron Beacon Journal’s Narrative Group

Special to the Digest

Rick Meyer

14 Tips for Building Character

Special to the Digest

Laurie Hertzel

Six Tips for Crafting Scenes

Special to the Digest

Ole Soennichsen

Jon Franklin interviewed by Ole Soennichsen

Special to the Digest

Gay Talese

A New Journalist’s Suggestions for Daily Journalists

River Teeth

Jim Collins

Tips for Reporters

Special to the Digest

Mark Kramer

Narrative Journalism Comes of Age

Nieman Reports

Walt Harrington

A Writer’s Essay: Seeking the Extraordinary in the Ordinary

Intimate Journalism: Sage Publications

Mark Kramer

Breakable Rules for Literary Journalists

Special to the Digest

Audio danger: NPR’s Kelly McEvers on trauma and the calculus of risk
A new post in our series on audio narratives.
“Why’s this so good?” No. 30: Sally Jenkins picks Kwame Brown
Meg Greenwell on seeing what others have missed.
“Why’s this so good?” No. 29: Andrea Curtis and the rhythm of mercy
Bruce Gillespie on well-paced narrative.