This is not to say that Haygood's stories lack essential news elements. In long narratives, he said, the ones that are successful need news as the backbone to the drama. But every 100 miles or so, I learned something. And it made the story so much richer. In reality, he later expounded, writers face many challenges in their pursuits of stories.
Writing is physical work.
You just can't will yourself to become a good writer. You really have to work at it. Nearly 50 years of what he got right and wrong. Invisible Stories in Obvious News Tips to get beneath the surface. Crunch Times Newsroom cutbacks, layoffs and Wall St. reaction.