After reading only a single chapter from these texts, I am excited by the creativity and curiosity that makes up nonfiction writing. The first chapter of "Telling True Stories" Jacqui Banaszynski quotes from Tim O'Brian's novel "The Things They Carried," which read "Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story" (4). I read this novel freshman year and didn't realize than the impact that nonfiction writing has on journalism that is explained by the writers in these two books. She says that "humans need stories" and I agree with her 100 percent. Stories have been our entertainment ever since we were young and now in the new age of technology, there are so many different mediums used to create this. She explains that storytelling is an art and curiosity is one of the best characteristics to have as a writer. I also enjoyed Gay Talese's take on "Delving into Private Lives." I really appreciated his opinion that the big stories deal with ordinary people's private lives that wouldn't normally be seen as newsworthy. Anyone can write about a someone who is always in the news, but Talese takes this to the next level to challenge writers to be curious. He says, "...getting know know real-life characters through research, trust, and building relationships" (7). This is a form of writing that I think most young journalists aren't familiar with because of the constant battle for timely stories. Ira Glass said it perfectly, "It's the pleasure of discovery, the pleasure of trying to make sense of the world," which is what makes great journalism(5). My question is... in this face-paced world we live in, and information is constantly being shared, how can we get back to this narrative journalism and make it become more accepted in the news world where "time" is the main issue?
I want to be a king of nonfiction!
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After our discussion as a class today, I still believe that anything has the potential for a great story. I don't think that great stories can only be relied on by the writer... I feel that the people you are exposed to and maybe with a little luck is where the stories that really touch people come from. We were discussing on my table about the idea if Ira Glass specifically follows his own rules and it would be interesting to ask him how he feels about daily newspaper reporters and vice versa. I would consider myself an extrovert, but I don't think that being an introvert or extrovert makes you a better or worse writer. The styles used by individual writers is different and works among different readers. If I would write four stories right now... my idea of great stories are the people you see walking down the street that make an impression on you and finding the story behind why that is.