"The Girl in the Window" and Other True Tales: An Anthology with Tips for Finding, Reporting, and Writing Nonfiction Narratives

by Lane DeGregory, Beth Macy (Foreword)

Part anthology and part craft guide, this collection of pieces from the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist offers something for readers and writers alike. Lane DeGregory loves true stories, intimate details, and big ideas. In her three-decade career as a journalist, she has published more than 3,000 stories and won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. Her acclaimed work in the Tampa Bay Times often takes her to the edges of society, where she paints empathetic portraits of real-life characters like a 99-year-old man who still works cleaning a seafood warehouse, a young couple on a bus escaping winter, and a child in the midst of adoption. In “The Girl in the Window” and Other True Tales , DeGregory not only offers up the first collection of her most unforgettable newspaper features—she pulls back the curtain on how to write narrative nonfiction.

This book—part anthology, part craft guide—provides a forensic reading of twenty-four of DeGregory’s singular stories, illustrating her tips for writers alongside pieces that put those elements under the microscope. Each of the pieces gathered here—including the Pulitzer Prize–winning title story—is accompanied by notes on how she built the story, plus tips on how nonfiction writers at all levels can do the same. Featuring a foreword by Beth Macy, author of the acclaimed Dopesick , this book is sure to delight fans of DeGregory’s writing, as well as introduce her to readers and writers who have not yet discovered her inspiring body of work.

Genres: Journalism, Writing, Nonfiction

284 pages, Paperback

Published April 5, 2023

Reviews

[toluwani · Rating 5 out of 5]

the TALENT that is Lane DeGregory. i didn’t know one person could have this many good stories in them. she’s as amazing of a teacher as she is a writer and reporter. she’s endlessly generous with the amount of insight she shares into how she crafts stories, down to why she wrote a certain sentence a certain way. i can totally see myself coming back to these stories for guidance in my own career. but her not recording interviews is a lil crazy for me personally

[Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow wow wow this book is incredible. Whether you are a writer, journalist or just a reader that loves good stories, there is so much to learn from this book from Lane DeGregory, a journalist in Florida who won the Pulitzer for feature writing. She is a master storyteller who has a lot of range, from a brief story of a boy giving his first Valentines gift to his sweetheart to a horrible but captivating story about a man who threw his daughter off the Florida highway (and the systems that failed and let it happen). I really appreciated the footnotes on the side of the stories that gave little tips on writing. It was easy to apply and learn by reading and see where she implements her own lessons. I recommend this to anyone, but especially for writers. It will leave you inspired.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed reading this book- both the narratives from the newspaper, as well as the tips and pointers. I highly recommend it to journalism students and aspiring reporters, but it is also suitable for a general audience. My only suggestion is that the tips on the sides could use a larger font. Otherwise, it has useful information and enjoyable narratives.

[Ann Woodbury Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating collection of human-interest newspaper articles written by DeGregory, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, over the past 20 years. But it's also a very practical how-to guide for creating nonfiction. For each of the 24 stories, DeGregory explains where the idea came from and then provides annotations (on the side) with helpful notes on construction, tips, and what makes each piece succeed. Interspersed throughout the book are longer spotlights. I read each narrative first, by itself, and then reread it with the annotations. "The Girl in the Window" can be enjoyed simply as an anthology of intriguing articles, but focusing on the skills involved in producing each one lifts the book to a higher level. It would be very useful to anyone interested in journalism or writing in general.

[Christina Norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a masterpiece in writing narratives and feature articles. It could be a textbook in classrooms.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. As a professional writer myself, I found good reminders and new things to consider in this book.

The annotations were really helpful and answered most of the questions I would want to ask Lane on how she accomplished a section of a story. Some of the annotations’ information were very repetitive, but I think the repetition just shows how important that information/helpful guidance is.

[Heather Bushman · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re a feature writer, read this to learn how keep a longform interesting and make mountains of the mundane and the everyday. If you’re a beat reporter, read this to pick out color and detail and make your stories just a bit more engaging. If you have nothing to do with journalism at all, read this for some incredible storytelling.

Absolutely tore through this. Narrative isn’t dead. Lane DeGregory just made my Mount Rushmore.

[Lorie Briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one tells a story like Lane DeGregory. In this part-compilation, part-text book tips, she brings us some remarkable articles from the Tampa Bay Times. She also provides insight into how she gets/tells incredible, sometimes ordinary, sometimes extraordinary, real stories.