Seeing is Believing by Burroway & Stuckey-French (2007)
After reading this article, written on the fine details and writing techniques involved in producing an evocative story, I found the section about "significant detail" both interesting and applicable to our upcoming epiphany project.
The authors of this article dive right in to explain the experiences readers feel as they turn the pages through a well-written fiction novel; feeling as though they are in the book or even that they are the main character, experiencing the highs and lows as they unfold in the story. These feelings are evoked by the authors ability to write in such a way that details what is felt by the characters of the book. In the article this is simply explained, "the writer must deal in sense detail. The second (point) is that these must be details 'that matter'." (Burroway & Stuckey-French, 2007) The larger point of tho section of the article is to give great examples of fictional writing styles that evoke feelings from the reader. The examples include an excerpt from another text, followed by an explanation of the different senses the author intends to cater to in the story and how the words are used to pull a specific sense and feeling from each line of writing.
I think this is a great tie-in to our epiphany project, as with such an event we should be trying to allow our readers to feel exactly how we felt in our epiphanic moments. If our epiphany brought us an overwhelming amount of joy, we should be able to describe in "sense detail" each part of that feeling so the reader can feel as though they were in that moment, experiencing it with us. The epiphany project is meant to explain a turning point in our lives, and moments like that, good or bad, must have had been sensational in every way in order for them to truly have turned our lives in a different direction.
Joey Durant
Joey,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked the article by Burroway and Stuckey-French (2007). You are correct in saying that this article applies to your epiphany assignment. In fact, the points made by the authors will serve as guidelines for evaluating each others' epiphanies (i.e., is there significant, concrete detail, how are the mechanics, etc.). When you cite a direct quote from the article as you did in the second paragraph, be sure to include the page number where it appeared.
Dr. Spencer
Joey,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that this article does a good job of relating to our epiphany assignment. I am hoping that I can use Burroway and Stuckey- French's writing style when I am writing my epiphany. I feel as though I may struggle a bit with showing instead of telling. I am a better speaker than writer and am afraid that my emotions will not transfer to paper well. I hope that this article will give me a better understanding about how to have my reader feel what i am trying to express since, as you mentioned the epiphany is an assignment that explains something that changed our lives. Being that open and trying to evoke feelings, I am afraid may be difficult for me. I'm glad you mentioned evoking feelings. I believe that having that power as a writer is amazing and I hope as I mentioned above that I will be able to accomplish this.
Thank you for sharing!
-Maddy
Thank you for giving us your take, Joey. I found this article interesting as well.
ReplyDeleteAs a former sports reporter I can appreciate, through the lens of a journalist, the authors’ discussion of providing pertinent details in a way that evokes emotion and understanding. However, during my time in journalism I worked on strict deadlines, under specific writing guidelines, often limiting me from providing readers a significant amount of details in a personable manner.
Burroway and Stuckey- French sparked in me a desire to reflect on my own style, particularly in situation where I have more freedom to insert myself into a piece of writing. I am looking forward to implementing some of the advice provided in this and some of the other articles we have read in preparation for the epiphany assignment.
Joey,
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a great way to tie back to the epiphany project as well. I still have yet to figure out what I’m planning on writing for my epiphany. At first, I thought something would immediately pop in my mind, but apparently not. While I was thinking, though, I realized that for class I am so used to writing about numbers and facts in logical manner, so how am I going to tie in emotions for the epiphany? The article as a whole, though helped give me a better idea on how to be evocative and make the reader feel as though they are in the story. In theory, our epiphanies should be powerful enough that we can remember every sense or detail so we can fully describe it. Putting it down on paper just sounds easier said than done. Overall I thought that Seeing is Believing (Burroway & Stuckey-French, 2007), was a great article, and helpful for preparing the epiphany project.
Jackie
Joey,
ReplyDeleteI like that you pointed out the significant detail section of this article. Coming from a creative writing background, this is something that has been drilled into my brain as one of the most important aspects of being and effective and evocative writer. The article mainly talked about fiction writing, but I think the concepts can apply to any type of writing that we do. Do you think it would be easier or harder to do this "showing not telling" for nonfiction writing? I think that the epiphany assignment is a great way for use to utilize this and to practice writing evocatively. In our epiphanies, as well as in research writing, we have to find a way to make our audience care about what we are writing. The question is, how do we apply these concepts from an article about creative writing, to our own research writing?
I enjoyed reading your entry. Thanks for sharing!
-Rebecca