“I’d tried a few times in the past to write narrative profiles. But generally failed. Chip helped me get over that, working with me on a long narrative profile for the first time, and making it a less intimidating endeavour.
LOIS KAPILA
Co-founder, managing editor, Dublin Inquirer

When I was floundering and unsure how to improve, I needed some hand-holding.  I felt as if I had stalled and didn’t know how to notch my reporting and writing up a level. “I’d tried a few times in the past to write narrative profiles. But generally failed. Chip helped me get over that, working with me on a long narrative profile for the first time, and making it a less intimidating endeavour.

Chip showed me how to refine an idea and deal with it evolving. How to pick and report the details, strip away the excess, and polish. He showed me how to learn from other writers, equipping me with tools that I continue to use. If I had a rambling question, or uneasiness about something, he had ready advice from his bag of tricks. As if he’d heard the question before. A few times, even. Now, I know what I need to work on and how to work on it.

He was understanding of how I, like every reporter, could be squeezed for time. But he encouraged me to keep going, and showed that it’s still possible and worthwhile to carve out hours to work on meaningful larger stories, and to draft and redraft, and to think about it all.

Long distance wasn’t an obstacle. Chip was flexible about setting up Skype calls to tease out how a piece was going. Working on Google Docs was a great way to track the before-and-after versions of a piece, and work through the logic of edits.

I haven’t just “learnt how to handle bigger reporting projects. I also learnt, I hope, how to be a better and more supportive editor.”

Co-founder, Managing Editor, Dublin (Ireland) Inquirer