Meredith Sell

longform

  • Good reads: Quests, real and hypothetical

    Longform stories I’ve read lately and enjoyed. Keepers of the Secrets by James Somers, The Village Voice Step into the archives at the New York Public Library and meet “the most interesting man in the world.” He’s 39 and knows the archives more intimately than many parents know their own children. Those boxes of paper artifacts

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  • 8 writing lessons I (re)learned through revision

    “Crap. Crap. Mega crap.” That’s what I thought when I read my draft three days later. This is what I (re)learned while revising.

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  • Good Reads: Dancing through a clouded life

    This post is part of a series recommending longform, narrative nonfiction (as well as other worthwhile writings). The Amateur Cloud Society That (Sort Of) Rattled the Scientific Community by Jon Mooallem, The New York Times Magazine The most quotable piece I’ve read recently, this story examines the culture of cloud-loving in a way that observes science, philosophy, and

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  • Good Reads: Mental illness, segregation, and daredevils

    This post is part of a series recommending longform, narrative nonfiction (as well as other worthwhile writings). The Real Story of Germanwings Flight 9525 by Joshua Hammer, GQ Mental illness and airline pilots. I recently wrote a story about Taylor University’s Ethics Bowl team, and this was one of the ethics bowl cases. You see, if a pilot

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  • Good Reads: Life and death on the high seas

    This post is part of a series recommending writing you should read — especially nonfiction. Good writing can transport you to any time or place so seamlessly that you feel like you were actually there, actually experiencing those things. Since I learned to read at five years old, doing phonetic worksheets to a cassette tape in the

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  • Good Reads: Dollar signs, technology, and government secrets

    This post is part of a series recommending longform, narrative nonfiction (as well as other worthwhile writings). The Secret Lives of Tumblr Teens by Elspeth Reeve, The New Republic The subtitle to this story sums it up best: “That feeling when you hit a million followers, make more money than your mom, push a diet pill scheme, lose

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  • Good Reads: Pieces from 2015 that are still worth your time

    This post is part of a series recommending longform, narrative nonfiction (as well as other worthwhile writings). I know it’s already February and there are plenty of pieces with a 2016 timestamp to read and recommend, but here are a few pieces I read toward the end of last year that are each significant or touching in their

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  • Good Reads: Life and the giants we face

    This post is part of a series recommending longform, narrative nonfiction (as well as other worthwhile writings). No two people live identical lives. No two people face all of the same hardships and challenges. Every life has its own giants. Each story recommended below is about an individual (or individuals) who face or avoid their giants in unique

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  • Good reads: Obscure, fascinating pieces of history

    This post is part of a series recommending longform, narrative nonfiction (as well as other worthwhile writings). The Forgotten Internment by Eva Holland, Maisonneuve You probably know about the Japanese internment that took place in the United States during World War II (if you’re like me, you learned about it through Cynthia Kadohata’s Weedflower). But did you know that

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  • Good Reads: Some are born into craziness, others have craziness thrust upon them

    This post is part of a series recommending narrative, longform journalism and nonfiction pieces. The title of this post speaks for itself. Click, read, and be surprised by the stuff that happens in real life. The Mixed-Up Brothers of Bogota by Susan Dominus, The New York Times Magazine Two sets of fraternal twins — one from the city, one from

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