Amanda Mascarelli

Good Transitions: A Guide to Cementing Stories Together

Pulling off seamless transitions can elude even the most seasoned writers and editors. Transitions can easily come across as formulaic, forced, obvious, or patronizing. And if they’re not done with finesse, they can give away the punchline and make stories feel repetitive. When transitions are ineffective—or are lacking altogether—readers may lose the thread of the story, or they may feel jarred from one paragraph or section to the next, or they may just get bored and go away.

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by Amanda Mascarelli · September 25, 2018 · 1 comment

Fliers on the wall of a public hospital commemorate young nurses and lab technicians who have died of Ebola.

Storygram: Amy Maxmen’s “How the Fight Against Ebola Tested a Culture’s Traditions”

When an Ebola epidemic swept through West Africa in 2014–2016, I was gripped by the absorbing stories that were being reported from the ground by journalists like Amy Maxmen, who wrote more than 15 pieces on Ebola from Sierra Leone. In this story annotation and Q&A interview, I consider what makes Maxmen’s award-winning National Geographic story on death rituals during the Ebola outbreak so successful.

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by Amanda Mascarelli · October 3, 2017 · 0 comments

Stephen Ornes Explains the Science of Lightning to Young Readers

Most of us have experienced the moment of truth when thunder fractures the quiet of an afternoon and a stray lightning bolt streaks across the sky in the distance and we wonder: What are the odds that’s close enough to reach me?

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by Amanda Mascarelli · November 17, 2015 · 1 comment

David Wolman Explores Italian Earthquake’s Legal Aftershocks

Seven scientists and engineers were convicted of manslaughter after a deadly Italian earthquake in 2009, accused of misleading the public and creating a false sense of security in the months and days before the quake. In a feature for Matter, writer David Wolman rendered the victims’ families’ heartbreak, the science of risk communication, and the dangers of putting science on trial. Here he tells the story behind his story.

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by Amanda Mascarelli · December 9, 2014 · 2 comments