Writing Tools

The creation of modern book-length fiction was helped along by a sub-genre known as the epistolary novel. That strange word comes from the same root as epistle, or letter. In 18th century novels such as "The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker," by Tobias Smollett, the narrative spins out from a series of letters sent and received by key characters.

I have a hunch that there may be something I'll call "epistolary journalism." This occurs, I would argue, when a reporter advances a story by quoting extensively from the letters, journals, e-mail messages, instant messages, voicemail messages, even yearbook autographs of key characters. Such evidence has a strange power, serving as another form of monologue or dialogue.

This occurred to me last Sunday as I read a front page story in the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times written by Chris Tisch. I've heard lots of folks talking about this long investigation, in which Chris chronicles the criminal career of Shirley Gordon, one of the most amazing con artists on the planet.

This grafter was so bold and clever, she even conned a lady chiropractor by hooking her up to a man who purported to be the well-known baseball pitcher Pedro Gonzales. Most of the communication between the chiropractor and her "fiancé" was by e-mail, and Chris rolls out some of the most deceptive messages:

And so on.

In 2003 Cathy Frye demonstrated how far such an epistolary strategy could be taken. In an award-winning series titled "Caught in the Web: Evil at the Door," Frye unfolds the story of a naïve 13-year-old girl who is stalked online, kidnapped and murdered. She tells much of the tale through e-mail exchanges between girl and killer:

When I wrote the series "Three Little Words," about a family where the father dies of AIDS, I was able to enter into his young life through the window of a high school yearbook with many revealing autographs and into his wife's life through a series of journals she kept during the years her children were born.

So there's a writing tool for you: Use messages between characters as a form of revealing monologue or dialogue.