Gerard covers everything from getting the assignment to conducting a stirring interview to working with an editor - including how to go "where the story lives" to experience the first-hand emotional facts - sights, smells, sounds - that will give your story immediacy; find the right form for the story you want to tell - essay, memoir, nature piece, political analysis, investigative exposes, personality profile; write an opening that catches the reader's attention and an ending that leaves a lasting impression; craft an engaging story by applying fiction elements such as dialogue, plot and conflict; find a voice readers can trust, and a writing style that "sings"; write other people's stories. (Gerard addresses such ethical and legal questions as libel, privacy, "off the record"); and revise your work in light of what you know now ... re-envision what the story really is.
Throughout, you'll find examples, advice and inspiration from some of today's greatest nonfiction writers - such as Terry Tempest Williams, Annie Dillard, Barry Lopez and Ron Powers.