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Follow the Story

In Follow the Story, bestselling author and journalist James B. Stewart teaches you the techniques of compelling narrative writing.

It is the indispensable guide to writing successful nonfiction books, articles, feature stories, or memoirs. Stewart provides concrete directions for conceiving, reporting, structuring, and writing nonfiction -- techniques that he has used in his own successful books and stories. By using examples from his own work, Stewart illustrates systematically a way of thinking about and executing stories, a method that has helped numerous reporters and Columbia students become better writers.

Follow the Story examines in detail:

• How an idea is conceived
• How to "sell" ideas to editors and publishers
• How to report the nonfiction story
• Six models that can be used for any nonfiction story
• How to structure the narrative story
• How to write introductions, endings, dialogue, and description
• How to introduce and develop characters
• How to use literary devices
• Pitfalls to avoid

Learn from this book a clear way of looking at the world with the alert curiosity that is the first indispensable step toward good writing.