The Journalist's Craft: A Guide to Writing Better Stories

There are those who worry that newspaper journalists are a dying breed. "Take heart," says Hugh A. Mulligan in The Journalist's Craft. "A few Grub Street hacks are still required to fill in the blanks between that color-coded weather map and the diagram of the bomb that blew up the Federal Building in Oklahoma City." The 16 journalists whose words of wisdom are gathered in Dennis Jackson and John Sweeney's stellar guide for journalists are all veterans of the Wilmington Writers' Workshop. They report on finding good stories, writing nonfiction narrative, developing craft, and working with words. Among the book's many strong pieces is the memorable "Breaking Out from the Herd," in which Mulligan advocates getting out of the office and away from the pack of reporters covering a story. You'll unearth a completely unexpected story beyond the story--Mulligan's have included pieces on a flower-cart salesman after Princess Di's death and Rostropovich playing his cello near Checkpoint Charlie at the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the end, says Mulligan, "people make better copy than events." --Jane Steinberg