Thread by @kathyluwho

Are we facing extinction of everyday feature stories,
@thallmanjr asks at @WeAreSFJ? We’re missing the stories that resonate, like this one he wrote in an hour about a goose that he heard about in a coffeeshop.
It had 70K+ shares on Facebook. #SFJ19
oregonlive.com/environment/20…

“Use the internal compass that’s in our heart.” Trust how we see the world, Tom says.

The writing itself is not what lingers in the readers’ souls. It’s the structure. How we see the story.

Ask what this story means? Say it with voice, not opinion. Take risks, don’t be afraid.

How the story starts:
“This unusual love story takes place outside a Southwest Portland office building. Tender, sad, and yet somehow hopeful, the tale – if you allow it – serves as a parable for the mystery we call life.

“The character is a Canada goose.”

“Story helps us discover what is truer than facts.”

You have approach stories through a process; you have to love storytelling. Not think about it like “this is the one.”

BTW, Tom, a @pulitzercenter winner, still works night and weekend shifts.

If you can’t report, see the details, you can’t be a storyteller.
It’s the little details that make a story.
“When I report, I get someone’s life intimately, and then I move on.”

“When I write, I’m an emotional guy. I tap into how I feel,” Tom says.
When he edits, he’s “a killer.” Ruthless about what he cuts out.
By the time he turns it into an editor, he feels he can’t make it better.

Me, listening to Tom tell the stories about his stories

“A story is the most universal thing. It cuts through our differences.”