Podcast with John Woodrow Cox

By Matt Tullis

This week on Gangrey The Podcast, John Woodrow Cox of the Tampa Bay Times talks about writing short narratives. Cox has been with the newspaper since 2011, where he is a general assignment reporter in Pinellas County. He covers breaking news and has led long-term investigations into frivolous government spending, military contract fraud and Florida’s prescription pill epidemic.

He also writes feature stories, including the “Dispatches from Next Door” series for the Floridian magazine. These stories are very short — just 500 words long — but painstakingly reported. They tell a full story in a very short amount of space.

We talked with him about two such stories, one about a woman who is only able to find peace on the ocean. The other is about a senior citizen always on the look for that special young woman who will save him from loneliness. We also talked about writing crime stories and how it can help form a narrative sense.

Listen to the podcast here.