Process Writing

Writing narrative journalism was essentially my first experience in writing longer works of non-fiction. Arts Journalism is always something in which I am interested, as I constantly read about and stay current with news in that category. But writing profiles of people and places was a completely new experience- one that I found to enhance my writing as a whole.

Writing the personal essay, I was forced to insert myself into the narrative, something with which I realized I was not comfortable. It was frustrating to have to constantly check to put myself in the piece, as I thought writing about my home functioned to tell enough about me as it was. My goal for the piece was to make myself known through vivid descriptions of the landscape and other people of the place, whether or not this was successful is still something with which I am concerned.

The Bell's profile was a challenge. After many attempts at calling the company to schedule and interview I simply resorted to visiting often the Eccentric Cafe. This process is what shaped my piece into being a profile more about the cafe than the company at large. I tried interviewing the staff there but they refused, saying interviews had to take place with Laura Bell only. Barriers such as these were what weakened my piece, removing any interview text from it.

Learning from the past two articles, I was sure to get interviews incorporated into my profile on Corner Record Shop. Talking with Joe Senn for an hour about both his store and music in general was a real ball and biscuit. He gave me many quotes that were extremely relevant and applicable to my article, his quotes inserted themselves effortlessly into the narrative. With a greater amount of time spent with the piece, I think this was my strongest of the three.

This class has taught me to pay closer attention to details- something that will surely improve my fiction writing as well as journalism. In order to capture the mood of a place, one must study the scenery and also the people interacting within it. Finally, I have begun to understand better the importance of strong leades. Writing an intriguing beginning is of utter importance in gaining the reader's trust and attention. This is something I will continue to work on and improve.