Narrative Journalism: Techniques for Storytelling Reality
A course by Guillermo Osorno, Creative Director and Advertising Strategist
Learn literary tools to help you tell real stories in an impactful way. Discover research and narrative techniques to captivate your readers.
Discover how to transform reality into fascinating stories through narrative journalism. Learn to identify compelling topics and develop documentary research, interviewing, and participant observation skills. You'll learn different narrative structures, create in-depth characters, and authentically portray their conflicts. Recreate scenes and dialogues that capture the reader's attention while ensuring the truthfulness of the facts.
Delve into self-editing techniques to polish your texts and ensure they are clear and precise. Ultimately, you'll be able to structure stories that not only inform, but also move and connect with your audience. Ideal for those who enjoy telling and reading stories that require time and care. No prior experience is necessary; you just need curiosity and a willingness to explore the world around you with a fresh, narrative approach.
What will you learn in this online course?
12 lessons & 22 downloads
What's included in this course?
You'll learn to use literary tools to tell real stories more effectively. You'll discover how to select compelling topics for both yourself and your readers. You'll develop skills in documentary research, interviews, and participant observation. By exploring narrative structures, characters and their conflicts, and recreating scenes and dialogue, you'll gain a deep understanding of the genre. This will allow you to craft stories that not only inform but also connect emotionally with the reader.
Upon completion, you'll be equipped with self-editing techniques that will help you review the structure, language, and accuracy of your texts. Narrative journalism will be a powerful tool in your hands, allowing you to tell compelling stories that authentically highlight reality. You'll be able to identify stories that interest the public, ensuring they're well-told and based on verifiable data. This journey will prepare you to become a journalist capable of capturing the essence of the stories that truly matter.
- 100% positive reviews (2)
- 337 students
- 12 lessons (1h 16m)
- 22 additional resources (7 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: Spanish, German, English, Spanish (Latam), French, Indonesian, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Turkish
- Spanish · Italian · English · Turkish · Portuguese · French · German · Polish · Dutch · Romanian · Indonesian
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
You'll create a chronicle using the stories around you, applying literary tools such as documentary research, interviews, and participant observation, structuring interesting stories based on verifiable facts.
Who is this online course for?
Curious people who want to explore narrative beyond the daily news, lovers of well-told stories, interested in chronicle writing and participant observation, and who enjoy immersing themselves in the nuances and contradictions of everyday life.
Requirements and materials
No prior knowledge of chronicling is required, just a curiosity about people and a willingness to explore. You'll need a notebook, a cell phone with a camera and recorder, a computer, and internet access to search for information.
Reviews
Guillermo Osorno
A course by Guillermo Osorno
Guillermo Osorno is a creative director, strategist, and educator with over twenty years of experience leading advertising campaigns from brief to presentation. He has worked both in agencies and on in-house teams, holding leadership positions at DDB, ...
Content
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U1
Introduction
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Presentation
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Influences
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U2
Identify the theme, characters, and conflict of the chronicle
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How to Find a Good Story: Characters and Conflict
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A story always has three acts
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Other literary tools for narrative journalism
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Real-life characters with conflicts: How to develop a source list
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U3
Identify sources and interviews to observe and write
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Develop a list of sources
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The interview and participant observation
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Sort the material
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Organize the story and start writing
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U4
Putting history on its feet
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Reread and edit: refine language, data, and facts
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When an editor intervenes: real-life cases
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FP
Final project
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Introduction to Narrative Journalism
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
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Watch professionally produced courses
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FAQs
A journalistic chronicle is a true story told using literary techniques to explore events with depth, characters, and conflict—unlike traditional reporting, which tends to be more straightforward and factual.
This course is aimed at people with intermediate knowledge of journalism or writing, but it’s also open to anyone eager to deepen their narrative skills and interested in telling real-life stories.
You’ll learn how to identify characters, build conflicts, structure chronicles in three acts, interview sources, organize information, and use literary techniques to enrich your journalistic storytelling.
All you need is a computer with internet access, a word processor, a notebook for jotting down notes, and optionally, an audio recorder for interviews. Curiosity and a willingness to research are highly recommended.
The course teaches you how to pitch stories, write effective cover letters, and tailor your writing to fit the editorial style of well-known magazines like Gato Pardo.
It explores American journalism techniques such as the three-act structure, the skewer method, use of scenes, dialogue, and deep character development.
The course offers strategies to leverage digital tools, artificial intelligence, and multimedia platforms for researching, writing, and publishing narrative chronicles.
Hasta el momento es justo lo que esperaba.
Qué bueno es aprender siempre a contar mejores historias, estoy recién comenzando el curso y está muy interesante.