Reading Response Week 7

In our reading for this week, I picked up on a few themes that I found particularly helpful:

1.) Kelley Benham and Adam Hochschild both wrote about the importance of dialogue in their sections. Benham says, “Dialogue is easier for people to read than straight narrative, because that’s how we listen to the world and how we communicate” (105). In revising my profile with David, I took myself out of the piece because I wanted there to be a greater focus on David. When I did that, however, I felt like the piece lost a lot of David’s character because the dialogue I had with him was so telling. I understand that profiles are a different genre of writing though, and hopefully the other details I incorporated made up for the withdrawal of dialogue.

2.) Jon Franklin’s concept of the three layers of the narrative is new to me. I’ve heard of the factual and emotional layers, but I’ve never heard of the rhythm of the piece being its own layer. I liked how Franklin used the triune brain theory to explain it—it really hit his point home how all three layers are necessary for a reader to connect with a story.  In thinking about how I feel when I read, I definitely am like the reader Franklin describes, “Readers read very fast, seeing none of the layers. They simply feel it, as you feel a highway while traveling over it.” I feel like rhythm is an intrinsic part of a writer’s style and can be developed only through practice.

3.) I think Louise Kiernan’s advice will be beneficial in our upcoming assignment. Kiernan talks about the difference between public and private documents, and how they’re useful in writing a complicated piece. Public documents include: court records, police reports, government studies, etc. Kiernan gives two links for advice on how to file Freedom of Information Act and search court records (www.ire.org and www.poynter.org). Kiernan also points to who to choose as someone that can help with technical parts of a story, “People with passions, whether for comic books or nuclear fission, tend to be good teachers” (147). I know that the more knowledgeable I feel about a topic, the easier it is to write about it—like with my piece on David, as soon I knew how he painted his art, the easier it was for me to describe it.

 Lastly, I felt that there was an underlying theme of treating writing as if you’re filming. We’ve talked about some filming analogies in class, but I like how we read about it again because it was a good reminder to incorporate it into my writing. Good writing means knowing when to zoom in and pan out, when to move through a scene quickly, and when to slow down. I think treating writing like filming involves a great sense of control over the direction of the piece, which I think comes from outlining and multiple drafts.