{"id":15588,"date":"2025-06-06T12:57:59","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T12:57:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/?p=15588"},"modified":"2025-06-06T13:02:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T13:02:18","slug":"reading-show-notes-lessons-storytelling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2025\/06\/06\/reading-show-notes-lessons-storytelling\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading the show notes for lessons on storytelling"},"content":{"rendered":" \n
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Sign up for the Nieman Storyboard newsletter,<\/em><\/a> delivered every Friday in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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***<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Dear Storyboard community, <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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If you want a glimpse of how writers approach their work, look to their bookshelves for clues. Or ask them about their open tabs, their podcast feeds, Spotify playlists, and which writers they’ve bookmarked, to read later or save forever. <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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This week’s Nieman Storyboard podcast with Washington Post tech reporter Drew Harwell<\/a> offers an excellent example. Harwell shares an all-star list of former colleagues, editors, and mentors who shaped his perspective on narrative journalism \u2014 many of whom hail from the Tampa Bay Times, where he worked during his early reporting career. It includes names (Lane DeGregory<\/a>, Michael Kruse<\/a>, Anne Hull<\/a>, Kelley Benham French<\/a>) that Storyboard readers will know well.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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One of my favorite parts of a podcast is the show notes, and the resulting reading list that springs from a conversation. Special thanks to associate producer Marina Leigh for putting these lists together. You can find them all here<\/a> \u2014 with reading recommendations like “When Crack Was King”<\/a> by Donovan X. Ramsey (selected by Akiba Solomon<\/a>) and “Under the Sea Wind”<\/a> by Rachel Carson (picked by Kim Cross<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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Tech reporter Drew Harwell on the very online life of a 24\/7 Twitch streamer<\/a><\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
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\"The<\/a>
The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div> \n
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“Narrative is not an inch count. It’s not a ‘disappear for six months’ thing. It’s a thing you can apply in every story. It’s the way you ask questions, it’s the way you write things, it\u2019s the value you place on real-world stuff: going to the place, learning the details, seeing everything, asking the name of the dog, getting the color of the car, really caring about those details. You should apply those in the ways that they work as much as you can, because that’s what makes storytelling fun. That color and nuance, you can’t replace that.”<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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\u2014 Thanks again to Drew Harwell for joining me on this week’s Nieman Storyboard podcast<\/a>. He shares insights on how to write about people’s online lives, including the story of “Emilycc,” a woman in Texas who has been streaming her life 24\/7 on Twitch for more than three years.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

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