It's what makes a piece something more. Orlean has a knack for creating colorful, fresh metaphors. Use rhythm to propel readers through a piece. Add details to enrich descriptions. Merida offered the audience of professional journalists some of his successful interviewing techniques.
Revelation can come with the simplest question.
Finding these threads takes a trained reporter's eye, patience and at least a dollop of empathy. It's important to understand people how they wish to be understood. When writing about Lott during Clinton s impeachment, Merida learned that the Mississippi Republican, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, adheres to a strict daily routine of eating dinner in his pajamas. Such analysis can be taken too far, he warned, if reporters get ahead of themselves. There is danger in going beyond where your reporting takes you and getting into psychobabble.