Even seasoned journalists can get in the rut of pitching topic roundups rather than stories. How do you find a compelling story within a topic—one with a narrative arc, engaging characters, and the potential to run long? The panelists will discuss the strategies they use to dig up narrative and to turn topics into the stories that keep us reading. This panel will include discussion followed by a workshop portion in which the panelists tackle topics suggested by the audience. Speakers will discuss successes and failures with approaches to various stories they have worked on. In the second half, they will workshop audience ideas, offering concrete tools and practical advice so that attendees can walk away with new skills, ideas, and approaches to finding the narrative behind a topic.