Thursday, January 26, 2012

Crane-ium

Is Stephen Crane's "Man Falls, a Crowd Gathers" news? Why or why not? (Feel free to respond to each other's comments, not just the question.)

If you prefer, you can answer these questions instead. . .

Morris Markey's literary journalism piece, "Drift," belongs to a genre referred to as "the procedural." To your mind, what characteristics of the piece make it an example of the genre? How does this help with or determine the structure/organization of the piece?

The piece has a noir-ish atmosphere. What is the connection of that atmosphere to the point or theme of the piece?

Remember, we're practicing good writing here, not just literary analysis. Your comments should be crisp and clear. Avoid generalizations, tortured syntax, and muddy language.

Your response is due by 3 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 1.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Welcome to Literature of Journalism

Tell me something I ought to know about you that will help me help you as a writer -- your aspirations, your fears and doubts, your literary or journalistic heroes, etc. Your comments should be as clear and complete as you can make them in a  blog post. Remember this is my introduction to your writing. Impress me. Or at least don't bore me. (Lesson #1: Boring readers is among the worst things you can do to them. What's the worst? Probably to unintentionally confuse them.)

Please respond no later than Wednesday, January 25, at 3 p.m.

13 Writing Tips

http://chuckpalahniuk.net/workshop/essays/chuck-palahniukhttp

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Software to Tell "Better" (?) Stories

http://www.observer.com/2012/01/episode-12-evan-ratliff-of-the-atavist-building-software-to-tell-stories/