By Stuart Warner 

(Originally published on Harvard’s Nieman Narrative website)

Narrative writers and teachers often have a language all their own. With the help of the Nieman Foundation and Jon Franklin, I put together this lexicon of literary journalism. Feel free to add to it.

1. In media res: A narrative has a beginning, a middle and an end. In traditional journalism, we begin at the end. We tell you the result. In narrative journalism, we begin somewhere else. Usually at either the beginning or in the center of the action, in media res. This is the point of the story where the plot can go in different directions.

2. Dramatic narrative or scene: Dramatic narrative happens at a point in time. The characters are acting or speaking, doing something. Almost always written in active voice.

3. Summary narrative: The link between scenes, often reduces the passage of time to a few graphs. Passive voice can work well here.

4. TDP: Time, date, place. Jon Franklin says there are two major turnoffs for readers boredom and confusion because they have enough of each in the own lives. You can help avoid confusion by always making sure the reader know where and when the action is taking place when you transition from one scene to another. Now, if your story is boring, youre really in trouble.

5. Flashback: When you begin in media res, you have to shift back to the beginning of the story. Franklin and many of his disciples insist that you should limit yourself to one flashback per story. Not everyone agrees, but flashbacks can be confusing in print, especially in serial narratives where you are asking readers to follow a story over several days. But there is another technique for communicating historical information about your characters, which is called …

6. Back story: As the story keeps moving forward, you can insert information about a characters history without changing time and place. Barrys Siegel’s “A Father’s Pain” (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-dec-30-mn-18995-story.html)  is one of the best examples I’ve seen in newspapers. Gay Talese’s classic magazine story, “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold,” keeps moving ahead to cover the month before Sinatra turns 50, yet as the story progresses, he gives you Sinatra’s life story through other characters.

7. Cliff hanger: If you’re going to go multiple days with a narrative, each chapter must conclude with a moment that make the reader want to come back the next day. You never want readers to think you’re publishing more tomorrow simply because you didn’t have enough room to get it all in today.

8. Internal cliff hanger: The skilled writer hones each section of a story so that it reaches some finality. Franklin calls this writing with courage. (I call writing with courage reporting on drug lords when you work in Colombia.) But the point is well taken: You need to craft each piece of a narrative as if its precious metal. ALWAYS mark where you want subheds or story breaks to go. Be prepared to enter into a death match to the page designer who wants to remove or move one of you breaks.

Character terms

9. Protagonist. The character who moves the action. Not necessarily the hero. Heroes always have flaws, but sometimes the protagonist has so many flaws that you could never call him the hero. To me, the hero must evolve by the end of the story. Frank Sinatra is the protagonist of the Gay Talese story, but he’s certainly no hero. But choosing the protagonist or protagonists determines a key element of narrative journalism: Whose story is it?

10. Major characters. In literature, major characters are generally introduced in the first chapter. Im sure there are exceptions to the rule, but these characters need to be fully formed as the story advances and have a major impact on the outcome.

11. Walk-on characters. May play significant roles, but aren’t as critical to the outcome. Because they may not show up as often, they need to be re-identified when they return to the stage.

12. Character details. These are the details that tell us something about our characters physical details, body language and other observed details. Don’t get carried away with physical descriptions. Narrative non-fiction is generally accompanied by a gallery of photographs. The reader sees what the character looks like. You need to determine what details are important to the plot. If the character smokes menthol cigarettes, that needs to be relevant.

13. Status indicators. Closely aligned with character details, these are Tom Wolfes details that tell us something about the characters place in this world. Can be important in the characters motivations.

Writing Techniques

14. Getting into a characters head vs. internal monologues. Many narrative writers argue that through interviewing they can tell the reader what a character is thinking at any given moment. I still disagree with that. Even if a character tells you what they’re thinking, that’s one thing you can never prove to be true. But you can get into the characters head by describing to the reader what the character has been through at the point of time, what she knows or how he has reacted in similar situations in the past.

15. Quotes vs. dialogue. Dialogue is two characters speaking to each other. Quotes are spoken to the reporter. Most narrativists prefer dialogue, but quotes can be effective, especially if the writer acknowledges that she has become part of the story. Talese is a master of that technique, especially in his narrative profiles Joe DiMaggio, Floyd Patterson.

16. Reconstruction vs. fly-on-the-wall: In most longer narratives, you can’t be there 24-7. But writers will get enamored with what they see, potentially missing the defining moment of the story because they arent there. Most of what we do in journalism is reconstruction. We interview people to find out what happened. In narrative reconstruction, the standards are higher.

17. Showing vs. telling. Closely related to dramatic narrative and summary narrative. Telling is the writers version of what happened. Showing allows the readers to make up their own minds. He is a natty dresser. (Telling, that’s your opinion.) He wears Armani suits. (Showing, you let the readers own experiences define the character.)

Literary Devices

18. Complication/resolution. This is the fulcrum of every narrative. The protagonist confronts an obstacle, struggles with it and reaches a resolution. Not necessarily a victory. In literature, the universal complications have been man vs. man, man vs. himself, man vs. nature and now I would add man vs. technology.

19. Point of insight. Point in the story where the reader can see that the protagonist is going to reach a resolution with her complication.

20. Foreshadowing. The resolution can’t come out of nowhere. You need to give clues along the path that shows where your protagonist is going. This is why mystery writers often write their stories from back to front.

21. Shotgun rule: Closely related to foreshadowing. Chekov’s adage that if there’s a shotgun on the wall in the first act, you need to fire it before the finish. Don’t include useless details.

22. Ending: Find it first. Franklin recommends having some idea of where a story could end before you embark on the narrative journey. And maybe you’ll find a better finish. Write your ending before you write your lead.

23. Meaning: Does your story have a vision. Is it focused? What does it say about the world, the community, etc., that we live in. Does it illuminate the human spirit? A narrative doesn’t have to have meaning, but without it, is it really a story?

24. Attribution: Some of us argue that the well-crafted narrative doesn’t need any. The skilled writer makes his sourcing obvious. But not everyone is comfortable with that. And I have found that bibliographies, footnotes, source boxes, etc., are helpful to readers.