Writers on Writing

Assignment:  Choose one of the archived articles from Writers on Writing and create a blog post that describes the author’s perspective on the writing process. Do you agree or disagree with the author? Has your thinking changed throughout this course regarding a writer’s perspective in the social media environment? Explain your answer by providing examples.

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I chose Carolyn Chute's article after reading the funny and irreverent Vonnegut and the directness of Mamet because her article resonated with me on two different levels -- the mundane workaday reality and the political landscape that surrounds it.

There are days when I feel I get no writing done despite waking up and answering the question of what needs to be done. So I make a list:

1.  Writing. 

Then there's the other things that get in the way. The leaking faucet, mail and bills, laundry, broken vacuum, friends and family needs, wants, knockings, pokes and pings.  So I wake at 4:00 am and make time from an age-old recipe handed down from elder to neophyte, from author to writer.

The best time, the quietest time to write is in the earliest part of the day. I wake up by default at this time anyway; it is probably genetics from Irish farmers waking me up to tend the fields. But the fields have been stripped from our Irish heritage. Mine, the OFeargal's of central Ireland were respected Kings and Celtic Queens. The possibilities of stolen crowns and lands ends up as a scrap of paper in the To Do list of phantom short stories. But as Chute says, stuff happens.  Everyday stuff, people can't-pay-the-bills stuff, people running-out-of-food stuff. And still we write for nothing other than love of the written word, to be paid $2 an hour, for a published book among billions of others. To claw at the dirt-truth and prop it up on a pedestal for all to see, waving its limp hands around like a puppet on a stick.

I love writing.

My boyfriend is a poet. There's no money in poetry. As Ms. Chute writes, he, and I and Carolyn, and Kurt and David are unmarketable in the post-industrial world. It is only with the help of braver publishers and tabloid owners, those willing to take a gamble on what is now 'unmarketable' and make it, form it and market it as commercial. Even when there is no call for that product, no call for that unwritten poem, or idea for that experimental film. Prior to the Gutenberg press, writers and poets were revered, the smartest of the land. Today they are the paupers because everyone has a free press in the internet and can write their own news, tell their own tale.

So I decided to become 'marketable' and take this graduate course to properly learn the professional nuances of writing in a changing media environment where anyone with a computer can showcase a blog like an ever-changing business card on steroids. How to source material, what other writers and journalists are adhering to ethically. How I measure up in the craft of the wordsmith, the politics of writing and public relations, and my prospects for actually getting paid for doing what I love in a down market. 

Carolyn Chute has published many novels, she is a local writer in Maine and she struggles with time, bills and everyday activism.  Many of the other writers warn of being unmarketable, embracing the spirit of the unembraceable -- the written word -- while still making time for our ethical, our humdrum, our ordinary and commonplace lives to "tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience boldly, even when it is unpopular", unwise, nonpaying, and perhaps even criminal to do so. (SPJ Code of Ethics)

   
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/books/092799chute-writing.html
http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

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In A Multi-Media World

A key piece of writing advice is to "Show, don't tell".  We like to see with our own eyes, to visualize the concrete form from the abstract concepts of language. Graphics, photos and video can show the whole story, giving it more dimension. It provides context to the pieces, whether discussing deep journalism or the KnittingWithGrandmaShow.com, multimedia brings an audience closer to the big picture the publisher visualizes. 

 Photo courtesy International Nuclear Safety Center 2006

Humans are inquisitive, visual creatures. Visuals work to tell a story that words sometimes cannot convey. A multi-sensory experience can enhance a narrative or further inform in an expository article. It can set a tone with color or induce emotion with background music.  Large screen video would be much more effective for a dramatic effect, such as in the Tunnel Creek avalanche photo-journalism piece, than it would be in a small thumbnail view. In this case, size matters!

One of my favorite multimedia tools are hyperlinks. With one click, you can begin the information superhighway with a virtual Library of Alexandria awaiting.  Some people think hyperlinks can't be overdone in a story and have made it an artform in itself. What do you think?


This is a short .gif, a repeating loop of a few seconds of video. It is a popular media, and can pinpoint a moment in time for humor or clarity.  This one shows the radiation from Japan's Fukushima Dai'ichi nuclear plant meltdowns in the Pacific current.

Slideshows work well for many uses, from poetry and i-cards, animation and fiction, to photo-journalistic clarity. This is an example from Reuter's on Fukushima's ghost towns:
http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=USRTR2WFK1#a=1

Here, an mp3 is utilized for a podcast; .wavs are another form of audio recording or livestream.
This podcast is about the delicate process of removing fuel rods at Fukushima Dai'ichi's reactor 4 fuel pool beginning today, November 18th 2013:
http://ext-vttts-us.readspeaker.com/cgi-bin/nph-voicetext/643cd89b0ec109477701b0374a5a3b6a.mp3 


An embed of a video works to punctuate the written word with backup visuals. This particular one has a Transcript feature that types the entire video narrative with a tracking time display, which can also be used as a closed caption system.  Remember your audience, but have fun with the many options to enhance your storyline! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=D6yD2SjjdWw

Blogging Your Best

Choose a blog and analyze the functions and substance of the blog as a form of writing and information delivery. In your opinion, what are the “best practices” when creating a blog to ensure appropriate form, function, and substance? Provide a link when responding to classmates and post your opinion along with your rationale.

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I chose a blog site named Monday Note, which is about publishing and journalism on the internet, and covers all aspects of the business of writing including media and technology.  It is opinion, fact and dry wit mixed with high-yield experience. Started by Frederic Filloux and later joined by Jean-Louis Gassee, they have some extensive resumes in the field of writing, media, technology and new business models. The blogs are fresh and insightful, based on today's journalism, giving it meaning and context with searchable sidebar engines, content searches and ‘related columns’ for further topic surfing after each article.

The site is clear and crisp with no visual stimulation beside the written word. The colors are stark white, no frills, with a pleasing faded purple envelope logo and highlights that guide the eye between articles and link-throughs. There are different corners for ways to subscribe to the newsletter to search, stay connected, and share the articles. Included in the stories are multi-media presentations of graphs, photos and video. Reader's comments pepper the ending of each story in lively and informative fashion.

The site’s aesthetics fit its function and uses time-honored best practices in a progressive style.  I enjoy reading the authors’ articles and find that they employ many of the steps that Ilias Chelidonis uses in his article “12 Steps to Launch a Successful Blog”.


References

Filloux, F., Gassee, J.-L., Monday Note Blog
http://www.mondaynote.com/2013/11/04/what-to-do-with-250m-in-digital-journalism-1/

Chelidonis, I., 12 Steps to Launch a Successful Blog, Daily Blog Tips,
Retrieved from http://www.dailyblogtips.com/steps-to-successful-blog/

For Press Release -- Joseph Paterno Passes

Annette Farrell, annette.farrell@snhu.edu                                    JANUARY 23, 2012
PRESS RELEASE                                                           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE




                JOSEPH VINCENT PATERNO, PENN STATE COACH, DIES AT AGE 85

It is with a sad and heavy heart that the Penn State community announces the passing of Joe Paterno.

A lifelong football legend with the university, Mr. Paterno died yesterday after a long battle with lung cancer, surrounded by family and friends. His lengthy record of football victories evidenced his winning nature, and whether coaching a player or advising a colleague, JoePa gave his all. Today, his fans and cheerleaders in the stands will mourn the loss of a champion, the likes of which no university will see again with his record of victories, bringing Penn State’s football culture to #1 in the heart of the Nittany Lions community.

The photos of JoePa sitting behind his desk tell a tale of who he was. His desktop and bookcases filled with trophies and photos of his family. Only a handful of books stand lopsided between the accolades of his time spent on earth -- a tricornered flag, a golden-sealed diploma from Brown University, the crystal encapsulations of his winning years on the field -- all are trophies for this role model to thousands of football players over five decades of service to the game. During his tenure at Penn State, Wikipedia states that their team’s Beaver Stadium was expanded six times, “increasing in size from 46,284 in 1966 to 106,572 in 2001”. There had been calls to rename the coliseum in his honor, Paterno Stadium. 

Mr. Paterno had two priorities in his life:  football and family. A simple man, I imagine he liked meatloaf on Tuesdays and fish on Fridays. He was an all-American public sports figure, with a supportive wife who co-authored a children’s book together with her husband. Sue Paterno always stood by on his sideline, during bad weather and good, during fumbles and fieldgoals. Joe loved his family, 5 children and 16 grandchildren in all.

Laid out on a wooden podium in the corner of Joe’s office at Penn, across from his carved nameplate, is a shirt that reads “Endure Fatigue”. This could be a metaphor for his life, and lesson to the incoming Penn State teams of young players and coaches alike. His grave site at the nearby Spring Creek Presbyterian Cemetery will become a place of pilgrimage for those who revere the sport and his contribution.  This is a place, between the bright lights and the roaring crowds, the adoration and financial rewards -- the place between “should have done more” and doing all he could -- that tells the last tale of winning and losing in Paternoville.

"They asked me what I'd like written about me when I'm gone. I hope they write I've made Penn State a better place, not just that I was a good football coach."

-- Joseph Vincent Paterno

The Paterno family will hold a public viewing and memorial service at Bryce Jordan Center, with funeral procession from the Penn State grounds.  Donations to Penn State welcomed.


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Annette Farrell is an independent writer. You can contact her at annette.farrell@snhu.edu.   
Photo: Michael J. LeBrecht II/1Deuce3 from SI.com
Photography used under Fair Use.

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