Chapter II · The Craft of the Profile 03 / 12

What a Story Must Cost

The subject must resist you

A good profile earns its tension from what the interviewee tries hardest to keep off the record.

Begin with an argument, not a description

The strongest profiles open with a claim so bold the reader has no choice but to follow.

Observe what the subject forgets to perform

The crack in the mask is where the story lives — entire narratives hide in a single unguarded gesture.

The ending must cost the writer something

If the last line does not leave you slightly exposed, you have not gone far enough.