Narrative Lives! Storytelling and Your Career

In the session called Narrative Lives! Chelsea J. Carter, a reporter for CNN, discussed the art of writing a narrative. 

Now imagine yourself working the overnight shift the night of the Aurora, CO shooting, going home to bed and waking up with about 1,000 emails. Now I thought I got a lot of emails from campus activities and professors, but nowhere near 1,000. 

Chelsea started replying to emails and phone calls while watching an interview with one of the people who was in Theater Number 9. She knew within the first 15 seconds of the interview that she wanted to write a narrative on this person who had been a witness to the horrific shooting. Now it isn’t always that easy to know that your story could be a narrative but here are some pieces of the puzzle that are crucial when telling a narrative:

1. Your story must have a definitive time period in which your story takes place, with a beginning, middle and end. Now you may not think that these types of stories are easy to find,  but you can find them everywhere. For example, a fatal car accident on campus or a student needing a transplant.
2. Your characters are crucial! The first character will normally be your storyteller. But in some cases a character may not even be a person. In the case of the Aurora shooting, the theater itself became a character. 
3.  Your scene must tell the story itself, so don’t over-attribute by saying “shots rang out” authorities said. Instead just say shots rang out. By doing this your reader is going along on the journey with you. 

A final tip that Chelsea mentioned was having your sources tell you their story multiple times. The first time without interrupting them and then ask questions. Also, don’t forget that flashbacks can be an integral part of your story.                      

Courtney Cook, '13 Managing Editor