Understanding New Yorker Story Writing

The video tutorial discusses the process of writing engaging stories for the New Yorker. It emphasizes the importance of selecting a story that is familiar yet not overly known, conducting thorough research, and understanding the core issues. The speaker advises against interviewing main characters first, suggesting instead to build knowledge through peripheral sources. The tutorial also highlights the need to dramatize stories and transform abstract issues into compelling narratives, focusing on the 'show, don't tell' approach.

What is a key factor in selecting a story for the New Yorker?

• It should be a popular topic.

• It should be familiar but not overly known.

• It should be completely unknown.

• It should have no prior coverage.

Why does the speaker prefer to interview peripheral players before the main characters?

• To save time in the research process.

• To ensure the main characters are available.

• To gather background information and context.

• To avoid bias from the main characters.

What is the speaker's belief about interviewing main characters?

• They should be interviewed only if necessary.

• They should be interviewed last.

• They should not be interviewed at all.

• They should be interviewed first.

What is the speaker's approach to asking good questions?

• Avoiding questions altogether.

• Asking random questions.

• Knowing a lot about the subject beforehand.

• Relying on intuition.

What is the purpose of creating scenes and set pieces in a story?

• To avoid direct interviews.

• To confuse the readers.

• To make the story more engaging and vivid.

• To fill up space in the article.

How does the speaker view New Yorker stories?

• As fictional narratives.

• As short news articles.

• As set pieces with dramatic elements.

• As purely factual reports.

What challenge does the speaker face when writing stories with issues at their core?

• Ensuring they are purely factual.

• Making them lengthy enough.

• Avoiding controversial topics.

• Turning them into narratives people want to read.

What does the speaker often worry about in their writing?

• Making the story too short.

• Focusing too much on the main characters.

• Balancing issues with narrative.

• Including too many facts.

What is the famous journalistic instruction mentioned by the speaker?

• Speak, don't write.

• Tell, don't show.

• Show, don't tell.

• Write, don't speak.

What is the speaker's goal for every story?

• To avoid any complications.

• To make it as abstract as possible.

• To keep it open-ended.

• To ensure it has a clear narrative structure.