Up for challenging yourself?

Harvard U.'s Constance Hale writes an intro to a couple of stories on the Nieman Narrative Digest that carries the headline, 'Narrative is not a synonym for long.'

I love that.

We've been talking about short narratives since we started focusing on narrative in '07, and several of you have written some (check the left rail for the story about the missing scarf, the guy caught on the York Fair fence, the hero dog who died ... there are lots).

No question, we can (and will) do narratives that are short, long and in-between. None is easy. But don't be intimidated into thinking that if you want to do a narrative, you're going to have to take months to do it. Be open to finding the right story, and it will appear.

Then you can be challenged about how hard it is to do short narrative well ... but after all, the challenge is the fun part.

3 lines of thanks

We started 2008 curious about how Felix Feneon made three-line "novels" work. Then we did some of our own, did some more, and created the Year in Three Lines. To all who were in on it, thanks.

Do a critique, and marvel at the no-duh quote

I'd encourage anyone who has a few minutes to read this piece (link below) from the Denver Post about the Denver plane crash, appreciate it for what it is (the reporters worked hard to get interviews with passengers) and critique it for what it isn't -- a strong narrative on what happened when the plane skidded off the runway.

It's a good way to think about stories we do -- sometimes, during a big news event, we get good interviews for a news story, but we don't get enough deep interviews for a narrative. If you can approach stories knowing what makes the difference, you'll have a better chance of getting what you need for narrative and being able to write a great story.

The paper even had the hed for that narrative as a subhead in the story: 10 terrifying seconds. Imagine what kind of interviewing you would have had to do to truly tell that story. Thinking about that kind of thing now, when nothing is at stake, helps prepare you to go for that kind of story next time you're in that situation.

Oh, and the quote? "When the engine caught fire, I knew something was wrong."

Savvy.

Seriously, though. Would you have even put that in your story?

Passengers recount the terrifying DIA crash - The Denver Post

One true thing

Now that I'm back from a weekend of sloshing and puddle-jumping in Boston -- more than 5 inches of rain in many places, just right for walking to and from the subway, and across Harvard's campus (yeah, poor me) -- and from having to have my car jump-started by AAA when it quit in Wilkes-Barre after I stopped to eat (and buy Jack Hart's book "A Writer's Coach"), here is the dominant thought that emerged from the gathering of narrative editors at the Nieman journalism foundation:

Times are tough. There's a lot of bad news going around, in everyone's newsroom. And that can throttle the effort to produce good journalism.

Don't let it. You can't let it. There's too much at stake. We have too great a responsibility to our community -- to tell the stories that are the community's shared narrative. As David Talbot, founder of salon.com, said, "A newspaper is important to the lifeblood of a city because it tells the city who it is."

You can dwell on all the reasons why it's harder to do great journalism than it was 5 or 10 or 20 years ago. Or you can acknowledge the difficulties, work to solve problems, and find a way to do the great journalism our community is depending on us to do.

Remember why you got into the business, and get back in touch with that passion. It's still there, and you can still use it, one act of journalism at a time.

Writers group challenge

Hey. Tom here.

At the writers group meeting on May 16, we talked about metaphors and similes. And we tried this exercise I found online. Give it a try. It's tougher than it looks, but it gets your mind working. Some of the phrases are pretty weird -- I figure that's intentional, to keep you from falling back on cliches.

Here's the exercise:

http://fictionwriting.about.com/b/a/257650.htm

Remember, don't think too much. Just write down whatever comes into your head. The idea isn't coming up with brilliant metaphors, so much as getting in the frame of mind where they occur naturally.

Anyway, this is the challenge. Take the test and post one or more of the metaphors or similes you come up with. Here are a couple of mine:

The fog plumed through gunshot holes in the car windows like tentative ghosts.

The security guard walks the lobby as if angry at the floor tiles.

April's writing and visual storytelling challenge

Let's take a page from Susan Orlean (see post below), who says: "I'm primarily interested in the tiny master -- a person with a tiny domain over which they are the master. I wrote a piece about a New York City cabdriver who is also the king of the Ashanti tribe in America."

April's writing and/or visual storytelling challenge, then, is to find a person who's in control or in charge of a small piece of the world, and capture that person and their world. Writers, your challenge is to do it in 500 words or less. And maybe we can do visual storytelling in both stills and video for this challenge.

Some brainstorming to get you thinking:

• grill cook (master of the grill he cooks on)
• machinist (master over the machine he's operating)
• artist/painter (master over the canvas)
• mom or dad (master of a specific task in the household)
• dj (master over dance or the music scene at a venue)
• kids (master of their bedroom, for example)
• office manager (master of the office)
• groundskeeper (master of buildings/grounds)
• receptionist (master of the reception area)
• crossing guard (master of the intersection)

If you're into it, see your editor and/or Scott.

Six Little Words

Here is your challenge: Sum up a well-known story or a lengthy story you have written or edited in SIX LITTLE WORDS.

The idea is that this forces you to be concise and boil the story down to its essence. You have to think about what is the main plot, what is the underlying theme/truth. This is kind of what headline writers have to do, only be clever on top of it all. It's also useful when you have limited space and have to decide what to cut. You choose to cut the things that least support the main plot and meaning of your story.

Here are some examples to show you what we're talking about. Please add your own!

Three Little Pigs (Sue)
Wolf destroys house. Pigs get smart. (plot)
Weather storms by building to last. (meaning)

Ferris Beuller's Day Off (Megan)
Friends play and talk, find selves.
Life is fast. Stop. Look around.

Cinderella (Jen)
Girl attends ball, finds prince charming.
Rags to riches. True love exists.

Wizard of Oz (Jen)
Girl gets shoes, friends, returns home.
Test your limits, believe in self.

Star Wars (Brad)
His planet destroyed, he saves universe.
Lost young man discovers strength within.

While at Starbucks for our meeting, we saw a young mom with a crying toddler and made comment about it (nicely of course), which inspired me to write:

Baby cries. Mom apologizes. Onlookers smile.
Baby envy, but glad it's hers.

Then, Tom asked us to do the same thing for a rather lengthy story we've written recently. Here's what we came up with for that:

Lauxmont Farms package (Tom)
Three decades later, land dispute continues.
Sins from past trap people still.

Barbie & Tad series (Jen)
Couple wants children, gains new families.
Love, not biology, make a family.

Twins story (Nicki)
Separated, reunited, sister adopts retarded brother.
Family love prevails in trying situation.

Bodani's shark story (Brad)
Fishing captain returns to deadly scene.
Captain lures monsters while chasing ghosts.

Nicki's Noah story (Sue)
Boy suffers setbacks, laughs, cries, lives. OR Boy suffers setbacks, family laughs anyway.
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, ooooo life goes on.

Bodani's Appalachian Trail series (Brad)
From beginning to end, they walked.
Each one discovered himself on Trail.

William Penn teacher who retired to care for wife (Megan)
Man chooses love over teaching career.
Man finds true love trumps all.

My writing contest entry

In case you took a look at the challenge I posted about below and wondered which entry was mine (you probably didn't!) Cube contagion

Looking for a challenge?

Probably some of you are familiar with Worth 1000, which is known mostly for its online Photoshop and photography contests.

They also run what they describe as text contests, where anyone who's registered (it's free) can enter the latest writing challenges. Almost all of them are fiction-based, but it's a good chance to try something new.

For instance, here was a recent challenge:

The rules of the game are thus: Write a story in which one of the characters is ill. (Not deathly ill, no deadly diseases, no long suffering illnesses. This is strictly about a character who is temporarily sick.) Think inFLUenza or the common cold. From humorous to serious is acceptable for this contest. From the whining child with a bell, to the executive who is sneezing his way through a major presentation, to the couch potato who can't find the remote that he/she is laying on.

Keep in mind that profanity is not acceptable. All entries must be in accordance with our text rules and guidelines. As always, quality is a must. You will have 7 days for this contest, so make your submission count.

Word Guideline: 700 words.

You don't get to read any of the entries until the submission deadline passes; then, you're encouraged read and rate them all. Contest winners (determined by vote results) receive virtual trophies and "credits" good for the entrance fees to future challenges.

I'll post a link to my entry in the "illness" contest once submissions end. Meanwhile, here are a couple of neat text and image contests that are now finished. It's a different kind of storytelling, but definitely a creative one.

Locked away (text)

Spoons (photoshop)

Office supplies (photography; obviously, I loved this one.)