This Oct. 31 New York Times article by C. J. Chivers provides a great example of the power -- and craft -- of narrative writing.
The story is about a mortar attack on an isolated American base in Afghanistan and the frantic efforts to save an Afghan cook seriously wounded in the attack. Note the mix of dramatic versus summary narrative, as well as the excellent use of description to show rather than tell the story.
Noticed any other good examples in print, online, or video recently?
A favorite of mine from back in July, by Lane DeGregory of the St. Petersburg Times, was called "The Girl in the Window," and came with a multimedia package. And couple months before that, the Cleveland Plain Dealer published a package called, "Beyond Rape: A Survivors Journey," by Joanna Connors, a first-person account of coming forward 20 years after being raped.
Deconstructing how such stories are told can make a very good training exercise.
1 comment:
Great read, the Girl in the Window. Thanks for these postings. A few friends are about to embark on a writing exploration. Two of the members have written books. One is a journalist. We will also be working on our guitar playing skills. It's nice to have friends. I think your posting may become important to our explorations. Linda Moses
Post a Comment