Emma Downs |
Features Writer
The Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Ind. |
Emma Downs didn’t have to look far for inspiration when her editor asked her to write the first serialized mystery to run in The Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Ind.
The idea for the 16-part murder mystery, set in Fort Wayne, was hatched when Downs, 32, a features writer at the paper, realized she hadn’t seen her neighbor in days.
It turned out her neighbor was fine. Her serial, “Death in the Fort,” also turned out to be popular with readers. The series, which ran in print Sunday through Thursday and online Monday through Friday, received more than 500 page views each day. Several local middle and high schools assigned the mystery to their English classes, and Downs spoke to a high school creative writing class. Downs also recorded an audio online version.
Downs, who began her newspaper career at The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne in 1998, left journalism in 2004 to work at a library. But as she applied Windex to book jackets to keep them clean, she missed reporting. In 2005, she joined The Journal Gazette, which is locally owned and operates under a joint operating agreement with The News-Sentinel.
Editor Craig Klugman calls Downs “utterly fearless in her approach to stories and her dealings with people.”
While Downs regularly writes arts, entertainment and general feature assignments, the lifelong Fort Wayne resident has shown her ingenuity in other ways. She developed and often writes three columns, including the monthly “A Week Without…” She has gone one week without swearing, one without using her car and another without styling her hair or applying makeup.
Other columns include “Rockin’ in the Region,” a weekly profile of a local band that includes song samples online, and the monthly “Fashion Forward,” which showcases area residents who are artistic, creative or “surprising” in their style choices, with an online audio slide show.
Added storytelling tools, Down says, “give more dimension to a story and make for an immersive experience that can, at times, be even more powerful than words alone.”
Connections: The Journal Gazette, 600 W. Main St., Fort Wayne, Ind. 46802, (260) 461-8491, edowns@jg.net
By Mary Lynn F. Jones