Orange County Register

Browse Archives

By Date

The best of Storyboard: essays on craft

By Short Takes May 18, 2012

If you’ve ever spent some time nosing around Storyboard you know we archive everything from interactive narratives to original essays on craft, in which masters such as Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, Rick Meyer and Walt Harrington offer tips on developing characters, … Read more

Dark Books See Light

By Notable Narratives January 31, 2007

The writing is snappy and the voice human in this slice-of-life piece about a couple and their fateful courtship. We liked the efficient movement from event to event, the sparing but effective use of concrete detail, the folksy language. The … Read more

Heart Surgery’s Invisible Man

By Notable Narratives January 26, 2007

Writing an admiring piece about a likable character is sometimes challenging; the story can end up cloying, empty. In this piece Berg uses narrative and concrete evidence to build his case. Pablo Garza mopped floors at St. Joseph Hospital and … Read more

Approaching Zero

By Notable Narratives November 29, 2006

This piece provides a snapshot of one girl and her daily schedule. We guess it surprised a lot of readers, gave them a better sense for the competitive world of college aspirants. It’s a good example of using narrative to … Read more

Brainstorm

By Notable Narratives July 20, 2006

This series is a great example of how good storytelling can help us understand issues in new and illuminating ways. Godines describes her descent into mental illness with dramatic skill. She’s also clearly interested in being a good journalist, in … Read more

The Boy Monk

By Notable Narratives March 21, 2006

This series was written and reported by Anh Do and Teri Sforza. We admired the masterful blend of emotional material—the boy’s and his family’s experience of separation, loss—with engaging explications of Buddhist traditions and belief. The piece also rightly emphasizes … Read more