Department of English

Over the span of the spring semester, students will originate, report, and write long-form articles - roughly 2500 words. For tips and inspiration, they'll also read and workshop long-form articles written by professional journalists who've mastered a wide range of reportorial and stylistic techniques. The best long-form journalism reads like fiction but rings with the truth of reported fact; and it successfully holds the easily distracted reader’s attention from beginning to end. Students will learn about, and practice, the best elements of long-form journalism: narrative story-telling, dramatic arcs and scenes, structural cliffhangers, shifting points of view, author’s voice, and dialogue as action. Students will also meet, in person and on Zoom, several professional journalists who will talk about their craft. 

Each student will nurture one project from early February to early May. All story ideas will be workshopped early in the semester; later in the semester, all the works-in-progress will be workshopped, with feedback from fellow students and the instructor.