Week 3 Reading Response

I took two pieces of advice from the readings very seriously: 1.) Adrian Nicole LeBlanc said, “Most of the relevant biographical details present themselves over time. To me, the omissions in someone’s self-presentation are just as interesting.” 2.) Susan Orlean said, “I actually believe deeply in the dignity of ordinariness.” Adrian’s advice stood out to me because I often find myself prying for people’s answers to questions that clearly make them uncomfortable—but, there is just as much if not more value in allowing the person to tell you what they want to tell you. Perhaps the rest will come out later, or perhaps what they don’t offer is more important to who they are than what they would have admitted upon coercion. I think Susan Orlean’s piece ties in nicely with her advice; instead of writing about Macaulay Caulkin, Susan chose to write about an ordinary boy. Colin’s character was real and funny and insightful. The reader still learned a great deal about what it means to be a ten-year-old boy, even though Colin is a regular kid. As a writer, I think it’s easy to fall into the trap of searching for the most bizarre topic in order to garner readers’ interest. But, even if a topic is one of the most humdrum parts of daily life, a piece still has potential to be strong if it successfully draws the reader in.

In both pieces, the writers didn’t interrogate or pressure their subjects to give a laundry list of important facts. The writers let the stories develop by putting in the time. I think spending a great deal of time with one’s subject, as well as building a relationship of trust are significant in allowing the subject to feel comfortable enough to revel him/herself. Susan Orlean pointed to the importance of building trust when she said it took a couple of days before Colin asked her to see his room and dog.

I think it’s also important to make the subject feel like a person rather than a point of interest. If the writer ultimately focuses on the story the subject has to offer, I think the writer is at risk of losing supplementary details that make the subject come to life to the reader. Adrian LeBlanc’s piece could have turned into a study on teenage prostitution or crack or race or sexual abuse, but she made it about Trina. And in making it about Trina, the reader gleaned information on all of those topics, while building a rich picture of who Trina is. Trina’s character made the reader care about those topics because they were relevant to her.