Jon Franklin is an incredible writer, no doubt. His idea that good nonfiction comes from writing coherent, well developed, and interesting short stories makes a ton of sense. The difference between fiction and nonfiction is just that one exists, while the other is a figment of the author’s imagination. The writing styles are so similar and the goal is to create writing that is believable and interesting for the reader. It is especially interesting how he chose to refer to people in nonfiction stories as characters. For me, that codifies the connection between the two genres. For me, the hardest part is trying to find an interesting angle to present a story that will connect to the audience.
The idea of conflict resolution and working backwards to find to determine the conflict from the resolution is extremely interesting. In looking at the case of Mrs. Kelly, she died in surgery, yet out of her death, comes the story of a doctor and HIS conflict with AVM, referred to in the article, as the “monster.” At first, the story appears to be about Mrs. Kelly and her brain. Soon the reader is pulled into the story by a play-by-play of the surgery that puts you in scrubs standing over her body. Once she is put under, she remains in the story only as the “pop, pop, pop” of the heart monitor, while Dr. Ducker emerges as the hero fighting against the dark-side. This story made me wonder how the story would be written if Mrs. Kelly had survived. Most likely, her husband, who told her good-bye, would play a more central role. However, he used the circumstances of Edna’s demise to tell a story of hope through the dedication of the “good” doctor.
For me, the hardest part of writing is determining what my audience is determining how to teach my readers a lesson through my writing. It is hard when writing to tell a story, especially when certain choices lead to certain consequences, to not moralize the ending to the reader. In reporting certain truths, won’t a degree of judging always occur on the part of the writer? If someone is telling someone else’s the story, there is always an outside perspective and bias that will determine what and how the story will inevitably become. The story of the author may not be the truth, but rather the truth through his lens.
The idea of conflict resolution and working backwards to find to determine the conflict from the resolution is extremely interesting. In looking at the case of Mrs. Kelly, she died in surgery, yet out of her death, comes the story of a doctor and HIS conflict with AVM, referred to in the article, as the “monster.” At first, the story appears to be about Mrs. Kelly and her brain. Soon the reader is pulled into the story by a play-by-play of the surgery that puts you in scrubs standing over her body. Once she is put under, she remains in the story only as the “pop, pop, pop” of the heart monitor, while Dr. Ducker emerges as the hero fighting against the dark-side. This story made me wonder how the story would be written if Mrs. Kelly had survived. Most likely, her husband, who told her good-bye, would play a more central role. However, he used the circumstances of Edna’s demise to tell a story of hope through the dedication of the “good” doctor.
For me, the hardest part of writing is determining what my audience is determining how to teach my readers a lesson through my writing. It is hard when writing to tell a story, especially when certain choices lead to certain consequences, to not moralize the ending to the reader. In reporting certain truths, won’t a degree of judging always occur on the part of the writer? If someone is telling someone else’s the story, there is always an outside perspective and bias that will determine what and how the story will inevitably become. The story of the author may not be the truth, but rather the truth through his lens.
1 comment:
Worry less about teaching your readers a lesson. It places you in a position of arrogance, and no one likes arrogance! Worry more about figuring out what the real story is and conveying that truthfully with the relevance it deserves.
Good questions and observations. We'll bring this to class and see what everyone else thinks!
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