Writing for Story: Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction

by Jon Franklin

The new "nonfiction"—the adaptation of storytelling techniques to journalistic articles in the manner of Truman Capote, Tom Wolfe, and John McPhee—is an innovative genre that has been awarded virtually every Pulitzer Prize for literary journalism since 1979. And now Jon Franklin, himself a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and undisputed master of the great American nonfiction short story, shares the secrets of his success. Franklin shows how to make factual pieces come alive by applying the literary techniques of complication/resolution, flashback, foreshadowing, and pace. He illustrates his points with a close analysis and annotation of two of his most acclaimed stories, so that the reader can see, step-by-step, just how they were created. This lively, easy-to-follow guide combines readability and excitement with the best of expository prose and illuminates the techniques that beginning journalists—and more experienced ones, too—will find immensely helpful:

— Stalking the true short story
— Drafting an effective outline
— Structuring the rough copy
— Polishing like a pro
— And the tips, tools, and techniques that will put your stories on the cutting edge

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Journalism, Business, Reference, Communication, Crafts

284 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 1986

Reviews

[Dave Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this as a textbook for a college journalism class almost 30 years ago. I finally read it front to back, and was enthralled. While dealing with non-fiction story writing, it's the best instruction I've seen for aspiring fiction writers.

A Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, Jon Franklin, true to the Truman Capote school of writing non-fiction in a fiction style, breaks story-telling down into individual sections, with separate dedicated to structure, outlining, focus, transitions, etc...

As a bonus, two of his best-known stories are reprinted with detailed footnotes to shed light on the writing process, sentence by sentence, choice by choice.

It was worth every cent the University of Maryland made me (over)pay for it, even considering that we never opened the book in class. (a common college story).

[Kressel Housman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike many of the other writing books I've read, this one is heavy on the craft and light on the psychology. He's especially big on outlining, not the Roman numeral type, but a really good one that I've since applied. The author even provides two of his own articles and tells you phrase by phrase why he chose the words he chose. I learned a lot from this book, and it didn't matter that it's about non-fiction. A good story is a good story, and this writer helped me improve.

Update 2019: I'm applying this author's advice like never before, and it's awesome! Upped to 5 stars.

[Eric Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an unusual book about writing, at least in my experience, because it is more prescriptive than usual. Rather than give advice on sentences and paragraphs, or even style and symbolism, it focuses on structure. Franklin stresses that every writer outlines their stories, even if only in their head, but he goes much further. He states that every story should have an outline consisting of five lines of three words each. The outline must be a perfect structure for the story with each word chosen to condense the maximum amount of content. Once such an outline exists, the story can be written with confidence.

The five outlines have this content: 1) the complication, 2) - 4) developments, and 5) the resolution. This outline works for short features, longer stories will have sets of outlines, each with this same structure. He provides two example stories, the first of which won the Pulitzer Prize, and breaks them down into outline form. He goes further in two appendices and breaks the stories down paragraph by paragraph.

As I read I became more convinced that Franklin was really on to something. By focusing on structure first, the story unfolds more logically and keeps the reader's attention. I have noticed that this book has affected the way I read stories now, especially non-fiction.

I am tempted to give this book five stars, but its lack of an index and concluding summary leaves me at four stars - at least for now, I may change my mind. I am going to make a summary on my own so I can better internalize what I have learned from this book.

Highly recommended.

[Rena Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

After going through a year in a very good writing program, I saw this book and was completely dumbfounded why I'd never heard of it. Of all the books I've read on writing, this one may prove the most useful. His instructions are very precise and he drives home his point in an exacting manner. Written for non-fiction short story writers, this book has terrific ideas on structure for anyone who writes. I highly recommend it.

[George Sr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first it reminded me of Aristotle's "Poetics" with its description of the nonfiction short story. Then it turned to a conversational hands-on description of how to write a story. A little dated with its references to typewriters and 3x5 cards, but otherwise quite good.

[Carolina Castro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well I'm just at the beginning of this book. Being a non native English speaker gotta confess that I wasn't able to put down the book when reading about the neuro surgeon and the complicated process he performed because of that weird condition the woman had. I didn't want to make pauses to look for the unknown words but just keep reading. It made me sait outloud twice "Oh, my God!", Franklin really put me in the OR with how he describes everything. Usually I skip the stories that books about nonfiction writing/journalism use to exemplify basically because I lack the context of their authors so our subjects of interest are not the same. But that was not the case with the story of the surgeon. Amazing!!!

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the books I've read on the writing craft, this was one of the easiest to get through. It was informative and funny. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to get a better handle on how to apply the concept of structure to their writing. My favorite portion is about outlining, which is a habit that I've stalwartly despised since the third grade, but I found my self scribbling out the major plot points of my own novel as I read through his description of outlines. I would say he clearly and concisely hits on all the major talking points of writing, but probably focuses the most of making your plot work.

[Andrew Diamond · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains excellent practical advice on how to define, structure, and outline your story. Franklin emphasizes the need to clearly define the story before writing by expressing it in series of simple statements that explain character, conflict (or complication, as he calls it) and resolution. If you can't clearly express the three C's, you're not ready to start writing.

Franklin repeatedly emphasizes the value of clear, lucid, straightforward prose that conveys the substance of the story without getting in its way. The author was a journalist, and he understands the value of getting to the point. The book is dense with information, and can stand up to three or four readings. The book's great strengths are 1) the author is right, and 2) it describes specific practices that you can begin working with right away.

[Kate M. Colby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book, and I'll start with bad so I can end on the good. The book is clearly outdated, both in some of its mechanical references and the author's mindset toward genre fiction. Throughout, the author writes with arrogance and speaks down to the reader. That being said, the craft advice is actually well-presented. The author provides clear methodologies, useful information about outlining, structuring, and polishing, and ample examples of these techniques. Most helpful, he provides two of his own nonfiction stories with notes on how he is employing the craft techniques, what he would change, and (ironically, given his otherwise arrogant tone) criticisms of his own work. In the end, I think this book is useful for someone who wants to write creative nonfiction or fiction, if you can get past the tone.

[Tri Dung Tran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing story is working hard. There is no short-cut. This is the first lesson a reader learn from Jon Franklin in Writing for Story. Franklin recommends readers to go through the book in the first time. Then in the second time, read more slowly and look for subtleties. Want to be an effective writer and storyteller – be patient. In one sentence, "writing story is a hard-working process of the art of using and breaking writing rules." And remember Keep on Keeping on. https://vebimo.wordpress.com/2019/04/...

[Mark Mathes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author has merited two Pulitzer Prizes for journalistic excellence. Thus, he explains in the chapter about writing short stories, he knows what a story is—and what it isn’t. It involves character, situation and action. And then he explains complications, tension and resolution. This is a useful book for journalists, fiction writers and nonfiction writers at every level. In the end, we try to tell a story. This book provides excellent guidance.

[Tony Smyth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel deceived by this book and gained almost nothing from it. The subtitle is "craft secrets of dramatic non-fiction". In fact the book is old and mentions typewriters many times, is aimed at short stories only ( of no use to me), AND on top of that, its aimed only at those dramatising a short story with a human element using a pretty simple formula. That's it - no use to my preferred form of non-fiction whatsoever. I feel cheated. Waste of money.

[Donna Mork · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about writing non-ficiton and creating an arc and tips on that. Such as starting by writing the ending first, then you know where you are headed to. This sounds counter-intuitive, and I'm not sure I could do it but might try it. Some really good tips throughout. Good reading for anyone interested in writing nonficiton, especially for articles for magazine types of writing.

[AFMasten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've taken my time with this book, applied many of Franklin's ideas and suggestions to my book. I hate to have finished it. I read it section by section, each morning, as inspiration. It made me want to get back to my writing, outlining, editing, to the words of my dancers' story.

[Tony Tran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on craft and writing stunning narrative nonfiction. Jon Franklin clears up so many questions I've had about the outlining process. Should teach to every undergrad creative writing student.

[Soundarya Balasubramani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found one of the best non-fiction short stories I've read in this, as a chapter. It inspired me to start writing a short story of my own. Definitely recommend reading the book for all the examples.

[Stieg R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written book about techniques for writing non fiction in the "new journalism" style of writing non fiction as feature entertainment that was a novelty in the 70s and 80s. Book does a good job of showing its writing lessons in the way the book itself is written.

[John Gastil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful book that got me started on my own latest nonfiction. (The funny thing is that its understanding of drama's quite helpful while writing fiction, too.) For any academic who wants to reach a larger audience with a new book, I recommend this, as well as Story Craft by Jack Hart.

[Katie Robles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful. Opened my eyes to how creative and 'story like' nonfiction can be.

[Shirley Fessel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent guide to internal dynamics of story structure do movement is built on from the beginning. Explore before writing with his template to find the most powerful structure.

[Cory · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I've ever read on writing. I make it my mission to read it at least once a year.

[Ingrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Assigned in a journalism class. Really terrific and clear.

[Patricia L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author's analysis of the craft is more crafty than I have ever read. There are secrets as promised.

[Luther · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting tidbits but ultimately, just like every other book I've read claiming to "fix" my writing process...

[Yanyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

I have no idea how I’m going to implement much of these things, but definitely a must read if you’re into writing nonfiction

[Brian Blickenstaff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to this through an acquaintance who is on staff at one of the biggest magazines in the US. It's a look at how to structure narrative nonfiction written by a 2-time Pulitzer Prize winner. It breaks down how stories work and offers a fairly simple method for organizing narrative. I don't necessarily agree with everything in here, and there are certainly plenty of examples in contemporary magazine work that breaks his rules, but overall Franklin's analysis and method make a lot of sense. The book seems aimed at college students, but I still found it helpful.

[Emily Gehman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, very well written

[Dona's Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Instagram Review: https://www.instagram.com/p/CE7zMlaA01Y/

Jon Franklin, the man who wrote this book, Writing for Story, is a Pulitzer prize winner for two feature articles, back in the 70's. This book was itself published in 1986, so this material goes back some time; both the book and the articles Franklin discusses inexhaustibly within have all aged poorly. What hasn't aged are the techniques that Franklin obviously has to teach, if you can plow through all that other troubling material.

If you decide to read this book straight -- from cover to cover -- you may notice that Franklin's voice and style in Writing for Story is difficult to navigate, to say the least. You may further notice, once you reach the second section, that his voice and style for his feature articles is completely different. Almost like he's a completely different person when he writes articles then when he writes books on writing.

Because this text is so difficult to follow, I think the only section worth anything, because of its clarity as well as its content, is the one at the end of the book containing the annotated feature articles. In these sections lay this book's real lessons about writing creative nonfiction. If you read Writing for Story, don't miss this section.

While I didn't love the book, I loved its appendix. Hey, can we remove our own Mrs. Kelly's monster? No? Okay. We'll keep the book whole.

Stay safe out there, fellow writers, remember your masks and your hands! Stay bookish, stay resilient!

[Alexandria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I do enjoy reading books on how to write well, I was required to read Jon Franklin's "Writing for Story: Craft Secret of Dramatic Nonfiction by a Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Winner" for my intermediate writing class. This how-to book largely deals with narrative journalism, and stories that absolutely must have a complication, development and then resolution.

The problem with this criteria, I've found, is that most stories I write don't necessarily have a resolution. When I write news stories, I seek to clarify complications rather than neatly tie up all the loose ends. Franklin's right: most great narrative stories do have resolutions. But do you have any idea how difficult it is to find stories that are resolved in the time you've spent with the subject? I would've liked to see more emphasis on finding such stories.

Franklin is slightly pedantic and for his emphasis on succinctness and brevity, I thought his words tended to wind on a bit in some instructions. I most enjoyed his chapter on outlining. Although he suggests a specific technique for drafting outlines, his general techniques to process an outline and think about outlining are useful.

I chuckled every time Franklin referenced typewriters (this book was first published in 1984), but Franklin's writing advice was timeless: use active verbs, outline, edit and edit some more. He includes the two stories he wrote which won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing, and at the end of the book, annotated versions of the stories.

Narrative writing is hard work, and Franklin writes that there's no secret to the craft but hard work and practice. I don't aspire to be a narrative, long-form journalist, but I do hope to incorporate some of the techniques Franklin discusses in my news reporting and writing. I believe people are interested in other people, and narrative writing provides a great opportunity to make news writing more human.

[Adolphus Writer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jon Franklin, two-time Pulitzer prize winner, wrote Writing for Story – Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction to teach authors his methods. Franklin illustrates his technique with annotated versions of his two essays: “Mrs. Kelly’s Monster” and “The Ballad of Old Man Peter” the first of which won the 1979 Pulitzer prize in Feature Writing. The goal of his technique is to impart knowledge and truth to readers. To paraphrase Franklin:

The secret to professional writing is a fusion of learned craftsmanship with artistic vision born of experience. The successful writer is the one who grasps the separate parts of their story and sees how those components work together to produce a compelling and dramatic tale.

Franklin’s writing process consists of three parts: outlining, roughing in the draft, and polishing. Outlining concerns the conceptual associations between the character and action which, for a short story, consists of a time sequence of five major focus narratives: the beginning complication focus, three development focuses which constitute the story body, and the ending resolution focus. Roughing in the draft (i.e., the structural level) involves the internal makeup of major focuses: sequence, emphasis, pacing, and orientation of action. Polishing entails good grammar, word usage, imagery, and principles of sentence and paragraph structure.

We heartily recommend Franklin’s method and urge you to read his book.