'Storytellers: questions, answers and the craft of journalism' by Leigh Sales

Leigh Sales' book 'Storytellers: questions, answers and the craft of journalism' has so many fantastic takeaways for writers and journalists.

Bringing together insights from dozens of leading Australian reporters, interviewers, producers and more, this book is a goldmine of anecdotes, lessons learned and guidance for anyone looking to spin a good yarn. 

Here are a couple of my key takeaways:

🧠 Curiosity is key. This is a running theme in so many of the interviews but I think this quote from Annabel Crabb sums it up: "With journalism, you have to start off as an intelligent ignoramus...Your only asset is your curiosity and capacity to learn quickly."

🔍Attention to detail matters. Lisa Millar points to the importance of correctly spelling people's names, particularly when they've been through a traumatic event. Not only is it polite and factually accurate, but you're not "adding to the pain" by not making the effort to get it right. Even when the stakes aren't this high, small details can detract from an otherwise good story.

👂Understanding your audience and what they want to hear is a skill. Kate McClymont talks about the constant questions she asks to get to the heart of a story and identify its most interesting, relevant and newsworthy elements. Kumi Taguchi says "I take my mind back to why we wanted to do this...in the first place. Why it's important." So often we get lost in the detail and our own ideas of what's important and need a reminder of the real purpose of our story.

I could go on. But in short, if you're a storyteller by trade or just curious about the (often invisible and intangible) work that goes into crafting a great story, this book is an excellent resource.