Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the voice of narrative journalism grew more informal and personal, Kramer says. “He paints painfully vivid scenes, interspersed with informational asides addressed directly to the reader.” Taken together, Kramer says, Hersey used these qualities to create a voice that was a simplified version of himself, but one we recognize as a humane guide, “one of us who had gone and had a look at the horror.” A test for an engaging voice “Hersey weaves in, rather than sets aside, his compassionate understanding,” Kramer says. As an example of that voice, Kramer read a short section from John Hersey’s “Hiroshima.” That voice is fine in its place, Kramer says, but when writing narrative journalism, the voice of the story must invite you to read it “with your soul wide open, as you would reading a poem or listening to a friend.” The narrative journalism voice offers vivid detail, has a range of emotions, and shows empathy. Roy Peter Clark on productive writing in a pandemic yearĪngel Jennings on being in the community and bringing yourself to stories The Power of Narrative: Non-fiction narrative in challenging times
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