Finding stories to tell

We all run dry sometimes.

Nicki's brown bagger yesterday, on internet research, included a list of web sites that Poynter's Al Tompkins said he uses to find ideas (and if you're familiar w/Tompkins' "Morning Meeting" on Poynter's web site, you know he comes up with some pretty good stuff).

Some of the more unusual or interesting:

http://www.firehouse.com/ -- firefighter/EMT site, industry news, etc.
http://www.agriculture.com/ -- includes topics ranging from rural suicides to crop reports
http://www.mtv.com/ -- as Tompkins says, it's a quick way to stay up on pop culture even when you're not into pop culture
http://www.topix.net/ -- you can search for news by zip code
http://buzz.yahoo.com/ -- most searched-for words on the web
http://www.mouseprint.org/ -- The website, MousePrint.org, says it "turns advertising on its head by focusing on an ad’s asterisked fine print footnote rather than the headline." it has an attitude.
www.cdc.gov/mmwr -- cool stuff about bad diseases. the 'mm' stands for 'morbidity and mortality.' enough said.

If you want Al Tompkins' whole list, I can run you a copy or Nicki probably has more copies.

Tompkins also suggested using RSS feeds to put multiple sites you might use to troll for story ideas in one place -- on your Yahoo! page, or Google page, or whatever. If you're interested but not familiar with RSS or how to use it, holler.

Also, Nicki e-mailed those at the bagger a story-finding list Ted Sickler had sent out some time ago. It's here.

Special guests

Hey all, we have two really cool speakers coming in over the next couple months -- a stand-up comedian and a national-level author/commentator.

Mark these dates on your calendar and try to work with your supervisor to make sure you can spare an hour, because these two brown-baggers will be entertaining as well as offering us insight into different kinds of storytelling.

Earl David Reed -- a standup comedian who also does a morning radio show (can be heard on 105.7 the X) and is a bodybuilder to boot. From his web site: "Earl David Reed's dynamic presence combined with his hard-driving wit, and improvisational style delivers a performance that leaves radio and comedy audiences breathless and always wanting more." He's here Oct. 3 at 4:30.

Marion Winik -- an author and National Public Radio commentator whose book "First Comes Love" was a New York Times notable book in 1996. From her Web site:

“Winik’s voice is so true and clear and compassionate, we’re happy to listen to any story she wants to tell.” -- L.A. Times Book Review.
“God, what a story, what a writer! Marion Winik blew me away.” -- Anne Lamott.

Marion is here Nov. 13 at 4:30.

"I am a storyteller"

The Times-Picayune has posted a 25-minute video on its photographers and their work post-Katrina.

In the first few seconds one of the photographers says, "Deep down, I am a storyteller. And the skill set that I have to tell those stories is a camera. That's why I do what I do."

I'll bet that line hits home with our photographers. And it's a great reminder to all of us about what we're here to do -- tell our community's stories. And that we're best at telling those stories when the words and the visuals come together in full force.

Great visual storytelling

If you have not seen Jason's video on Shawna Weil, the brain-damaged girl whose family hopes a new stem-cell treatment will help her in some way, take five minutes for this excellent piece of visual storytelling.

Of note: The video opens with the mother's words, "Shawna was coming home from work ..." And she (and the visuals) begin to tell a story. If you didn't know the story ahead of time and/or had not read the accompanying story, you wouldn't know right away what's going to happen. But I think the mother's re-telling compels you to stick around to find out. And once you do, you're in until the end, I think.

The video ends plaintively, and open-endedly, which is entirely appropriate for this story.

Great work, Jason.

Worth your time

The YDR's own books blog reports that Edward P. Jones, author of "The Known World" among other things, will be speaking at Goucher College in Baltimore Oct. 15 (and it's free).

This guy is a brilliant writer, in my opinion. When I read "The Known World" I remember feeling like he had crafted each sentence for months before moving on to the next one. It's just great stuff and I'm sure it would be cool to hear him do a reading.

What is journalism?

(You can be more specific and change that to "What is storytelling?" if you like.)

Either way, check this out. It's a guide to "Journalism 2.0." I don't think it's overdramatic to say that understanding the material in here will, in large part, determine whether you're cut out to thrive in this business.

I welcome argument on that, though!

Perhaps the ultimate narrative non-fiction

From "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets" by David Simon:

Pulling one hand from the warmth of a pocket, Jay Landsman squats down to grab the dead man's chin, pushing the head to one side until the wound becomes visible as a small, ovate hole, oozing red and white.
"Here's your problem," he said. "He's got a slow leak."
"A leak?" says Pellegrini, picking up on it.
"A slow one."
"You can fix those."
"Sure you can," Landsman agrees.
"They got these home repair kits now. . . "
"Like with tires."
"Just like with tires," Landsman says. "Comes with a patch and everything else you need. Now a bigger wound, like from a thirty-eight, you're gonna have to get a new head. This one you could fix."
Landsman looks up, his face the very picture of earnest concern.
Sweet Jesus, thinks Tom Pellegrini, nothing like working murders with a mental case.

That's just to whet your appetite.

Join us noon Wednesday, Sept. 5, to eat lunch and watch an episode of "Homicide," based on Simon's book, after which we'll talk about how character development and dialogue can be used to develop conflict in a story and lead us to the story's resolution.

The episode is about 45 minutes and we'll leave about a half-hour for
discussion, so we should be done in a little over an hour.

See you there.

Words and music

Just caught a clip of Jack Kerouac reading from "On the Road" backdropped by jazz piano on the Steve Allen show in 1959. Scroll down and look on the left side of the page; the video clip is only 30 seconds but the audio clip is 3 minutes or so and worth every second.

Kerouac virtually sings his writing to the beat of the music. It's captivating in and of itself, but it's also a writing lesson for us -- listen to how his syllables, words, sentences and emphasis within those sentences create an irresistable, entrancing rhythm.

A good yarn

Picked up Sunday's Virginian-Pilot while at the beach. Saw an Earl Swift whodunit series beginning atop page 1A. Check it out. Starts with a detective investigating a death; he doesn't know who the dead man is until someone in the neighborhood tells him. By the time I read the following few grafs, I was hooked:

Mears returned to the body. He saw no bullet holes in the coat, so he unbuttoned it. Saw no holes in the man’s dark blazer, so he unbuttoned that. On the white shirt beneath was a spot of red.

Lordy, Mears thought. Tonight’s not going to be so routine, after all.

W. Fred Duckworth was the former mayor of Norfolk.

And damn if he hadn’t been shot.

Good stuff flagged by me and others

• Michele Canty saw this from AP on the Minneapolis bridge disaster. She wrote:
  "Something like this also helps us remember that good writing doesn't have to be a long-term project, and that breaking news stories can be the perfect opportunity to really shine."
• Dustin Long, a reporter and friend of mine, sent this along -- a Seattle Times piece on a basketball coach's daughter who has cancer. What's different is that the reporter is doing a blog with regular updates about the girl. That's something new. Any thoughts? Do you like it? Not like it?
• I saw a blurb on Romenesko about this series, which the Newark Star-Ledger says "tells the story of one of New Jersey's most notorious killers, Robert Zarinsky. It is the tale of a cunning psychopath, the dogged lawmen who pursued him and the victims who, even today, await justice." One interesting thing is that the sourcing is basically a huge footnote, their way of preserving the narrative without inserting attribution throughout the story, according to a piece in Editor & Publisher. Check it out & let us know what you think about this method.