Posting a little early this week. I trust you don’t need me to remind you to please get out and vote tomorrow. But just in case…
This weekend I will be at the National Association of Science Writers conference, on a panel: “Building Your Story’s Structure.” I’ll be posting some of my discussion points for it. But today I’m starting with one of the most common narrative structures: I know of it as “The 9,” a term coined by one of my former editors.
A similar discussion about story structure came up in my recent conversation with Kim Cross, who talked to me about narrative interviewing, revision, and working with editors you trust. You can read our full Q&A below.
Cross just published “The Alchemists,” for Bicycling magazine, retracing the journeys of women in Afghanistan who were forbidden to ride bikes. Kim spent three years interviewing her story subjects, on and off. She reconstructed their stories in powerful detail, as they recounted escaping Afghanistan as the Taliban returned to power.
A full-time freelance writer, Cross is also a teacher of narrative nonfiction. In our conversations we have a shared language. We get into the nitty gritty details of craft and reporting, and it’s pretty obvious we are both teachers.
But First, What is “The 9?”
