This page is taken from notes by Mark Lee Hunter who taught at the cij summer school 2006.
Think of your sources as characters, not quotes. Note:
• personal environment
• personal appearance
• speaking style (exact quotes!)
• anecdotes
• impressions (remind you of anyone?)
Do not just collect dates. Reconstruct scenes:
• get both sides of a conversation to recall it = dialogue
• visit places where events took place, note striking details
• call the weather bureau: what was the weather?
Let the sources speak in your place!
• avoid placing your feelings ahead of the victims
• do not synopsize great quotes (especially in ending)
• convey feelings by showing expression
Do not invent a structure… when you can steal it.
• identify the structural issues
• identify an author who successfully addressed them
• use the author’s structural solution
• examples:
a) Balzac’s exposition on judicial procedures, use of humour to relieve tension
b) Anthony Trollope’s management of huge casts of characters
c) Michael Moore’s depiction of the world around Roger
Make reading/viewing part of your writing!
© Mark Lee Hunter, 2003-2009