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From: Sugoodman_at_aol.com <Sugoodman>
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 08:57:24 EDT
I'd like to weigh in a little more about this whole narrative/telling nonfiction through story or voice issue. I started my writing career as a magazine writer and did many stories on emotional and physical health issues for women's and parenting magazines. One typical form for one type of article is to start with an anecdote then state the main theme of the piece then quote the first expert and move onto to more info, anecdotes, etc. If I ever happened to talk to a reader of one of these articles after it came out, I'd notice that the reader would usually either mention one of the stories told in the article--Jenny who did x or y because of infertility issues or the scientific info that was learned as a direct result of a specific story.
This really impressed upon me how much we are programmed--either genetically or from thousands of years of oral tradition about the campfire or because we've evolved in social units--to respond to stories. And how we learn through them because they involve both our intellect and our emotions.
Is that more so for girls and women than boys and men, I don't know. But I find that, in my own work, I often try to use voice or vignette or a strong storyline of people and their experience to impart information.
Susan
Susan Goodman 5 Oakview Ter. Jamaica Plain MA 02130 617R258 www.susangoodmanbooks.com
Received on Sat 16 Jul 2005 07:57:24 AM CDT
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 08:57:24 EDT
I'd like to weigh in a little more about this whole narrative/telling nonfiction through story or voice issue. I started my writing career as a magazine writer and did many stories on emotional and physical health issues for women's and parenting magazines. One typical form for one type of article is to start with an anecdote then state the main theme of the piece then quote the first expert and move onto to more info, anecdotes, etc. If I ever happened to talk to a reader of one of these articles after it came out, I'd notice that the reader would usually either mention one of the stories told in the article--Jenny who did x or y because of infertility issues or the scientific info that was learned as a direct result of a specific story.
This really impressed upon me how much we are programmed--either genetically or from thousands of years of oral tradition about the campfire or because we've evolved in social units--to respond to stories. And how we learn through them because they involve both our intellect and our emotions.
Is that more so for girls and women than boys and men, I don't know. But I find that, in my own work, I often try to use voice or vignette or a strong storyline of people and their experience to impart information.
Susan
Susan Goodman 5 Oakview Ter. Jamaica Plain MA 02130 617R258 www.susangoodmanbooks.com
Received on Sat 16 Jul 2005 07:57:24 AM CDT
