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The elements of story: field notes on nonfiction writing
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Table of Contents
From the Book - First Harper paperback.
pt. 1. A HUMAN FACE. Every story, even the driest, has a human face. Draw it well and put it on display, for to readers it is a mirror and a magnet
Shivers on Wall Street: every story has a human element
Burrito heaven blues: talking heads are just heads. Find a whole person to tell your story
White knuckles: emotions are abstract, and describing them is hard. But the writer must try, for an article without emotion is like a sun-bleached skirt
The man who glowed: empathy is precious for the writer. If he is attuned to a subject's inner life, he can double the depth of his story
pt. 2. THE THEME. The writer must be loyal to his major theme. He must study all its facets, and he must tamp down other topics that threaten to displace or diminish it.
A baker named Muffin: a writer who is jack of all themes will be master of none
Bang the drum strategically: a writer must regard his story through theme-colored glasses
What babies know: the sound of words and the rhythm of sentences are a language wholly apart from the dictionary. Make sure your story not only says what you mean but "sounds" what you mean.
Temptation alley: verbs are the most important words in a story, and the most important verbs are those that reflect the main theme. They are verbs with a capital V. Professor Brinker's obsession: keep exploring your subject. The more you look, the more you see.
Razzing from the rafters: the smart writer is fair, and he also knows he may be wrong. So he is generous in letting dissenters state their case
The Bentley and the Bodega: choose your main theme and position it, uncrowded, at center stage
The skinny librarian: a writer must be a sensitive gatekeeper, for every tidbit that she puts into her story is a burden on the reader
Drive-by deliciousness: a writer can sometimes include a by-the-way morsel without hurting his story. But he must be disciplined, and make the detour short.
pt. 3. MOTION. Good stories are a brisk journey, and the reader can always feel the breeze in his hair
Stroke and glide: all stories are divided into two parts: the action, and the commentary
A stirring in the garden: making her story move is the writer's main duty. Fortunately, there are many engines for the job
Paintings without frames: breathless writing exhausts the reader
Ask not what ... Group similar points together. They gain power from consolidation, and lose power from interruption
Cathedral in the shadows: readers appraise a fact or idea in light of the facts or ideas that surround it.
pt. 4. ARTFULNESS. The artful writer sees what others see. He just sees it in a drawn-fresh way
The smell of pleather: the five senses are a writer's most formidable tools
Sparks on the highway: look until you see something new, for the writer is the watcher of the world
The sunshine boy: "Show, don't tell" works because a showing is a telling, just a more vivid one. But the wise writer knows that "tell" is sometimes the more prudent choice
The ballad of Custer's horse: sometimes, say things sideways; the reader will be grateful
The robin and Stone Mountain: metaphor and other fanciful images are staples of nonfiction, but the nonfiction writer should consider even deeper forays into imaginary territory
The girl who was a servomechanism: quotations are found art. Use them liberally
Borrowed grace: white is whitest on black. Let contrast work for you.
The pebble and the pond: symbols are powerful, so use them; carefully
The secret of the sea urchin
Sometimes, a writer must be a sweet talker, wooing his wide-eyed readers with honeyed words. Then, when he has lulled them, he springs his surprise
The upside-down staircase: a writer should seriously consider the use of drawings, maps and other nonword ways to make a point
All my darlings: like the colors in a painting, words have a beauty and a worth beyond a writer's composition
Pretender in a promised land: the writer who indulges in fancy-pants prose sometimes has too large an ego, and sometimes one that's too small
pt. 5. TRUTH AND FAIRNESS. Writing is an art, and art bestows a license. But the license is a limited one, and it never sanctions material omission or unfair play
Something there is that doesn't love a fence: writing is an act of assertion and judgment. Don't evade that part of the job by hiding behind bland language or others' words
Those cantankerous inhabitants of Clinton: a writer must let subjects respond fully to criticism, must parse his words closely to avoid reader offense and, in features, must be wary of lapses in reporting
The rose of Spanish Harlem: feature articles are often about mood and other gauzy matters, but they must rest on a hard nut of logic and proof
The rose of Spanish Harlem II: to strengthen her article, a nonfiction writer will often be tempted to twist the truth. She must suppress this urge, for distortion is a slippery slope, and facts are all the nonfiction writer has.
pt. 6. LEADS AND OTHER ARTICLE PARTS. Leads and settings, transitions and kickers: each part of an article demands its own peculiar art
Colonel Foster, commanding: it is easy to write a defective lead and just as hard to write an artful one
The heirs of Dr. Cadwalader: good leads come in many shapes; but the common measure of their worth is their power to provoke curiosity
The artist and the old socks: by linking unlikely items, the "double take" lead can lure in the puzzled reader
The secret taxi signal: the mystery lead can be a brief and powerful way to engage the reader; but used too freely, it sounds cheesy
Norma Rae comes to Brooklyn: the anecdote lead is much maligned, but its low reputation stems from bad execution than from inherent flaws
Long lines at Buckingham Palace: of the dozens of lead varieties, three that deserve more attention are the scene lead, the fact lead and the Harry Truman lead
Death of a banker: no words are more important than the lead. Invest the time to compose, and compare, several possibilities
Why Snuffy Stirnweiss matters: like a diamond, a story needs a setting
The man who met Lincoln: besides furnishing the atmosphere of an article, the setting often answers that vital reader question: "Why should I read this?"
Yellow ribbons and honeylocusts: the nut paragraph is both a map and an ad
The soccer girls: the best transitions are the ones avoided
The white tiger at the garden: the end of a story can be the bow on the package. It can also be something more substantial
pt. 7. THE BIG TYPE. Titles and subtitles are turbocharged text. They are your work distilled. Why change an apple? The large type presents the first words that a reader encounters. With a big mission and little room, these titles and subtitles are a boot camp for sharp writing
Cabs and cornfields: composing a title demands a deep understanding of the test and a fine-grained appraisal of different phrasings
The tides of Brooklyn: a subtitle is an outline to a story; but it is more concentrated, and written with verve
Pundamentals: word games offer a nice sideshow for the reader; they are never profound, but some efforts are smarter than others.
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