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At a minimum, narrative denotes writing with (A) set scenes (engaging narrative sets the reader down in a scene), (B) characters, (C) action that unfolds over time, (D) the interpretable voice of a teller — a narrator with a somewhat discernable personality — and (E) some sense of relationship to the reader, viewer or listener, which, all arrayed, (F) lead the audience toward a point, realization or destination. — Mark Kramer, Writer-in-residence and director, Nieman Program on Narrative Journalism
"Narrative" means any technique that produces the visceral desire in a reader to want to know what happened next. — Bob Baker, Los Angeles Times
Narrative does not (usually) tell the reader about the story as traditional journalists do but as novelists and screen writers do. The narrative writer reveals the story so the reader watches and comes to the reader's own conclusions about the significance of the events the reader has observed. — Donald M. Murray
I agree that narrative is, put simply, just storytelling. It's what I do when my wife asks me how golf went and I describe how it was that I nearly birdied but eventually bogeyed the last hole of the day, shot by shot, with insertions about the weather, the conditions, my state of mind, the unfairness of life, how I set out to reduce my stress and wound up creating it. Some of this I render for her in pictures. Some I cannot. But it's all still a tale, a yarn, a story, a narrative. — Bryan Gruley, Wall Street Journal
A narrative is a factual story told with fictional techniques. Example: Taking note of scenes and details that wouldn't make it into a more traditional story. "Alone in her office late at night with only a goose-neck lamp for illumination, the city manager furrowed her brow over the budget for the coming fiscal year..." — Patrick Beach, Austin American-Statesman
Narrative is the process of taking the reader for a trip that feels both foreign and familiar. It relays an unfamiliar plot and characters with details that are recognizable and immediately identifiable. — Jeff Houck, The Tampa Tribune
A story that transports me from being a time-starved newspaper reader back to a place where I read for the pure joy of it. Where I care about the smallest details of the characters, and I can't forget about their story days, even years later. — Rick Press, Features Editor, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Narrative is a story told as if spoken and not written. It draws from the oral tradition of tales told at bedtime, around the campfires, or even at a cocktail party. As such, it must command and hold reader attention. Good writers hear their stories as they write and refine them. The best writers know to listen to their own words critically and improve them. — Phil Kukielski, Managing Editor, Features, The Providence Journal
A story that reaches readers in an emotional way, by engaging them with tangible, sometimes visceral details. — Lisa Wrenn, Contra Costa Times
I don't use the word much any more because I've found that too many writers aren't quite sure what it means. To me it means "storytelling" ... nothing more, nothing less. So mostly I use that word now. Nearly everyone seems to understand what THAT means (although too few people seem to know how it's done.) I don't think it requires definition, but in case it does: "Storytelling" relates a series of connected events, using chronology (what happens next) as the main organizational element. Pure storytelling (or narrative) requires a theme (a central point or message). And it requires the classic character/problem/struggle/resolution structure that is part of every story from fairy tales to Melville to the "Sopranos." It also requires a narrator Ñ a speaker or writer who takes control of the material, shapes it, and relates it in an appealing and personal voice. Finally, storytelling (or narrative) elements can be inserted in articles that are not pure narrative from top to bottom. For example, a well-told anecdote in the body of a block organization story is a form of narrative or storytelling. — Bruce DeSilva, News/Features Editor, Associated Press |
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Jeff South was state editor and database editor at the Austin American-Statesman before heading to academia in 1997 under the mistaken impression he’d have summers off. He is an associate professor in the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he teaches news writing, legislative reporting, communications technology and media ethics. South has served as a trainer for SPJ, IRE, AP and other organizations. He frequently conducts workshops on, and writes about, computer-assisted reporting, online journalism and media convergence. In 2003, South was awarded a fellowship from the American Society of Newspaper Editors to work at The Charlotte Observer. In 2007, he will serve a six-month Knight International Press Fellowship in Ukraine. For more than 20 years, he was a reporter and editor in Texas, Arizona and Virginia for newspapers such as the Dallas Times Herald, the Phoenix Gazette and The Virginian-Pilot. He also served two years with the U.S. Peace Corps in Morocco.
Lee Anne Peck has taught English, journalism, and communications courses since 1988. Most recently she was an assistant professor of international communications at Franklin College Switzerland, Lugano. Over the years, she has advised three student newspapers.