Gonzo journalism is a nonfiction style made famous by authors like Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson. Chaotic and crazed, Gonzo puts the journalist in the middle of their feature. Gonzo journalism uses facts, but also embraces emotion and first-hand experience.
Here’s how I found my way to Gonzo journalism, and what can happen when you take the ride.
Gonzo (By Definition)
In 2020, I published a feature to the online site Bridge Base Online about the closure of an illegal care facility. Mainstream news had already covered the basics (Sunday Times; ‘Last Round for KZN Care Center’).
My journalistic partner and I checked in as patients, two disabled writers.
Within weeks, we saw owners provide a free flow of alcohol to Alzheimer’s patients. Official-looking paperwork didn’t check out. Their food made us ill, and our medical files showed that strong tranquilizers were being administered.
At breaking point, we were threatened and the exits locked.
As disabled writers, caregivers seemed invaluable – until we arrived. Caregivers weren’t qualified, documents were false, and the place had an illegal pub. Day-by-day, we saw more. I wrote nights, while my partner collected evidence with much risk.
We submitted reports everywhere, including the Department of Social Development and Police Service, which culminated in its closure.
The Sunday Times published the facts, but there was more to tell than just a segment. Our experiences enabled feeling and first-hand knowledge, what was seen and felt.
Hard news was not enough. It was Gonzo: journalism, with feeling.
What’s the Story?
Gonzo needs first-hand involvement, but don’t seek danger, risk or chaos. Anything can be covered with Gonzo perspective. ‘Frank Sinatra Has a Cold’ is a fantastic feature, with no shots fired (or journalist harmed). It’s not just an interview with Sinatra, but Talese described every moment, including the atmosphere and his own thoughts.
I wrote an article series about payday lenders. Summaries weren’t enough, so I tested the companies at my own risk. It worked, and blog MyCreditStatus bought the features.
I would interview Leigh-Ann Mathys, then-treasurer of the political party the Economic Freedom Fighters, for another market. I wrote in part about our conversation and not just the facts. We talked, and we connected. It worked.
Start with hard news or core ideas, then dig and involve yourself as its writer.
The Elements of Gonzo
Gonzo journalism cracks open hard news, and writes about what comes falling out. The elements of a Gonzo feature will include fact and truth, but allows a storyteller’s style, voice, and active participation to convey them.
Gonzo journalism is the 5 W’s with more depth, and from the journalist’s POV. What did you, the journalist, see or do for the facts? Anything can be Gonzo, but perspective, accuracy, and courage is expected of you.
Gonzo can involve, but must never deliberately endanger. Gonzo is brave, but not stupid.
It’s carefully collecting the story around the writer, not writers causing chaos theory or mayhem for their story. Interpret danger, don’t cause it.
Obscenity, an unnecessary Gonzo myth, also rarely has a place.
Recording the Edge
Gonzo features rely on what happens in the moment, and a careful mixture of the writer’s relevant thoughts and what’s really happening to the story. The best tool is constant observation in the moment: keep recording no matter what.
Document and record everything. Keep the tape running. Hunt, and gather. It’s always worth it.
When you think, ‘Is this really happening?’ and you have evidence that it just did, you might have a great Gonzo story.
The writing phase is where you sit down with everything you have collected, and let a story unfold from it.
Markets for Gonzo
Publications are more welcome to Gonzo journalism today. Even if the market doesn’t mention the word Gonzo, they might run a strong piece if they publish blogs, features, essays, creative nonfiction or interviews.
The best way to sell a Gonzo piece is through an editorial relationship or a completed piece on-spec versus a simple query.
Markets known to publish Gonzo features include:
• VICE
• Vanity Fair
• Esquire
• Rolling Stone Magazine
• The NY Times
• The Washington Post
Writing About It
When the story itself isn’t in this style, I have also come to write about it on occasion. ‘A Writer’s Guide to Gonzo Journalism’ sold to Writers Write, with a secondary piece that explores writing advice from the Beat Generation.
If you’d like to buy a ticket, Gonzo journalism can be a crazy, fulfilling ride.
About the Author: Alex J Coyne is a writer and freelance journalist. His features have been published in markets like Caribbean Compass, People Magazine, Writers Write, and others.
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