Cognitive Connection January 22: Behind the Story

January 22, 2010 — Behind the Story, Dave Eggers, Freelancing, Mary Karr, memoir, resources, Storytelling, Writing

This question is directed at the writers here: do your friends and family call you nosey? Mine do—and always have. Even as a child, my favorite one-word question was “why?” and I liked to eavesdrop on conversations. I always wanted to know the story and what happened behind the story. Sometimes, when I’m watching movie or reading a great article, I want to know how the director got that shot or how the writer secured that tidbit of information.

While I know when to keep it in check, there’s no question that I am endlessly curious. One reason I love writing is because I’m always learning something!

With that, I give you my reading picks for the week, most of which focus on the story behind the story.

• Paige Bowers Publishing and Sole Meuniere Paige shares her personal story of a Dave Eggers reading, where he said that story still matters and if you have a good one, the rest should take care of itself. Paige’s post is a fantastic answer to my piece on Mary Karr saying  an author’s voice is key to being published.
• Speaking of Mary Karr, I just had to slip in this Paris Review interview with Karr on the Art of Memoir.
• Both timely and insightful, Michelle Rafter’s The story behind the story: how media outlets are covering the Haiti earthquake is a must-read. She provides a behind the scenes view on how reporters for several outlets are covering events in Haiti. You can also read NPR’s the story behind the story of NPR’s Haiti coverage, which Michelle highlights on her blog.
• On the lighter side is Betsy Lerner’s Let’s Not Do Lunch on the “strange publishing phenomenon which I call phantom lunch or faux lunch.” I especially love her inside perspective on being a literary agent, authors and the publishing industry.
• In a follow up to last week’s Mini Cooper Ad Fires on All Cylinders, Paul Williams goes behind the scenes with the creative team to get the story on how this compelling campaign came to be. Don’t miss Marketing Profs Daily Fix Exclusive Story Behind the Mini Cooper Christmas Box Ads.

Your turn. What story or behind-the-story piece did you read this week that you’d like to share here?