As it does, my strongest advice is that we should remember that narrative is chronology with meaning. It is all too easy to forget that last qualifier, and to focus our narratives on messages that are no more than conventional wisdom. The narrative that lacks vision will suffer from exactly the same weakness as an inverted-pyramid story that lacks hard news. It will seem pointless. Worse, narrative, being by nature stronger, will seem not only pointless but also vacuous and self-indulgent.
Vision is no more magic than a news peg.
Like the news peg, it results from reporting. In the case of narrative that means depth reporting talking to many people, doing library work and searching the Internet, and, most important, doing the heavy lifting that is contemplation and consideration. In this way we can see beyond what we expect to see, and what we are supposed to see, and lift our stories to the level that merits narrative. Then, when we have something to say, the complex of rhythms, styles, and devices we identify with literature can serve journalism as well. Jon Franklin, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, is the author of Writing for Story.