Tell a story about the most interesting person in your neighborhood, past or present

Finding the Subject of Your Story

Hit the streets, the corner stores, the parks, the pubs. Chat up your elderly neighbor you've a
Hit the streets, the corner stores, the parks, the pubs. Chat up your elderly neighbor you’ve always wondered about. Scour the local blogs or visit the area historical society. The goal is to explore your immediate surroundings—maybe even venture outside your comfort zone a tad.

Develop a list of leads, as they’re known in “the industry,” and whittle that list down to a manageable few. You may find, for instance, that the octogenarian taxidermist in apartment 2A once got burned by the press and will make no exceptions for even an intrepid storyteller like yourself. Or maybe the burly ax murder who once traumatized your block in the 1800s was nothing but an old wives’ tale.

Choose your story subject by end of day Thursday and share it with us here.
Choose your subject
Share your progress in your project section to get feedback from other students

Storytelling: Get to Work!

Zero in on that one subject that gets your heart pounding with excitement. But be sure that you have
Zero in on that one subject that gets your heart pounding with excitement. But be sure that you have that all-important and precious commodity in journalism and storytelling—access. Vital to your project is a direct connection to your subject or the ability to corroborate certain details and flesh out your story through research and interviews with people in the know.

Then, it’s time to get to work!

Grab your notepad and pen; or your audio- and video-equipped smartphone; or that new digital camera; or your paintbrush and canvas, for that matter—the medium, after all, is less important than your documentation, your curiosity, and the one-of-a-kind story you ultimately craft.

Share your story with us all here. Can't wait to read them.
Share your story
Share your progress in your project section to get feedback from other students

Additional Resources

- The New York Times' "One in 8 million" project
- A "live" story by Moth grand-slam champion Aaron Wolfe
- A short Narratively piece about an old-time piano mover
- Cowbird.com for interesting/often inspirational personal stories
- A Times piece I co-write on a woman who lived on the same block for a century

Darrell Ellens

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