This is a collection of inspiring stories and practical advice from America's most respected journalists. The country's most prominent journalists and nonfiction authors gather each year at Harvard's Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism. This work presents their best advice, covering everything from finding a good topic, to structuring narrative stories, to writing and selling your first book. More than fifty well known writers offer their most powerful tips, including: Tom Wolfe on the emotional core of the story, Gay Talese on writing about private lives, Malcolm Gladwell on the limits of profiles, Nora Ephron on narrative writing and screenwriters, Alma Guillermoprieto on telling the story and telling the truth. Also included are dozens of Pulitzer Prize winning journalists from the Atlantic Monthly, New Yorker, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and more. The essays contain important counsel for new and career journalists, as well as for freelance writers, radio producers, and memoirists. Packed with candid and insightful recommendations, these essays will show anyone fascinated by the art of writing nonfiction how to bring people, scenes, and ideas to life on the page.

Introduction to Telling True Stories / Mark Kramer and Wendy Call -- Part 1: An Invitation to Narrative: -- Stories Matter / Jacqui Banaszynski -- Suggestions for Narrative Journalists / Gay Talese -- The Narrative Idea / David Halberstam -- Difficult Journalism That's Slap-Up Fun / Katherine Boo -- Part 2: Finding, Researching, and Reporting Topics: Introduction / Mark Kramer and Wendy Call -- Finding Good Topics / A Writer's Questions / Lane DeGregory -- Finding Good Topics / An Editor's Questions / Jan Winburn -- Stories are Everywhere / Adrian Nicole LeBlanc -- Reporting for Narrative -- Ten Overlapping Rules / Mark Kramer -- To Tape or Not to Tape? / Jacqui Banaszynski, Jon Franklin, Gay Talese, and Adam Hochschild -- Interviewing: Accelerated Intimacy / Isabel Wilkerson -- The Psychological Interview / Jon Franklin -- Participatory Reporting: Sending Myself to Prison / Ted Conover -- Being There / Anne Hull -- Not Being There / Jacqui Banaszynski -- Not Always Being There / Louise Kiernan -- Reporting Across Cultures / Victor Merina -- Reporting on Your Own / Mitra Kalita -- From Field Notes to Full Draft / Tracy Kidder -- Doing Enough Reporting? / Walt Harrington -- From Story Idea to Published Story / Cynthia Gorney -- (Narrative) J-school for People Who Never Went / Adrian Nicole LeBlanc -- Part 3: Name Your Sub-Genre: Introduction / Mark Kramer and Wendy Call -- Profiles / Jacqui Banaszynski -- The Limits of Profiles / Malcolm Gladwell -- The Ladder of Abstraction / Roy Peter Clark -- Every Profile is an Epic Journey / Tomas Alex Tizon -- Travel Writing: Inner and Outer Journeys / Adam Hochschild -- The Personal Essay and the First-Person Car cter / Phillip Lopate -- Tips for Writing Personal Essays / Victor Merina -- First Personal Singular: It's Not Just About You / Adam Hochschild -- First Personal Singular: Sometimes, It Must Be About You / DeNeen Brown -- Columns: Intimate Public Conversations / Donna Britt.