I would say the biggest thing I have noticed about my pieces is a few "What the heck was I trying to say?" moments.
It is nice to have a break in between final rough drafts and the final revision, that way I can separate myself from the writing. It seems that regardless of how many times I actually re-read these two pieces, my mind kept saying, "it sounds great, nothing else to fix". Now that I have had some down time, yeah...um, they still could use a small amount of work.
The profile piece just needs a few things fixed and the layout played with. The feature piece needs some argumentative adjustments and just smaller spacing as if it would appear in a magazine.
I seem to be struggling with how much of 'me' I should add to the profile piece. I don't want it pulling away from the true scientist, but I was there for some of the data collection the piece talks about...ugh. I guess that's part of the process, try something and if that doesn't work...try something else.
I hear you loud and clear! The tiny little tweaking is a task that never seems to be finished. Each time I save it and say, "Yay! It's done!" I see another weird line. I even found a "hr" that was supposed to be a "her!" MS's red squiggly hid pretty well on that one!
ReplyDeleteAs for the amount of you, hmmm... that's a tough one. I suppose, when the story shifts from the story of the material to the story of the "interview," you probably ought to have a part. Or if being a part of the story will enhance your own ethos, you better have some face time. I'm so confused on the issue, most of the time I tend to write myself into the whole thing in first drafts and then as part of the revision process, I remove myself. If anything of me remains, so be it? I don't know. If you figure it out, let me know, please. :)
If at first you don't succeed...drink a beer and try again. Right? Oh wait, no. That's bowling. But I guess writing is kinda similar.
ReplyDeleteI think the hardest part about injecting yourself into the story is that it should probably add something to your other characters instead of taking away from them, like you said. Does "you" help put "him" into context?
I like what Kelly said about writing yourself out. I guess just ask yourself: does this add anything to the piece? If not, chuck it!
My humble opinion of course.
I think your post perfectly exemplifies the nature of the writing process. I had the same experience going back to my pieces and thinking why in the world I had chosen to write the way I did.
ReplyDeleteI like your "keep trying" attitude (especially because Doug seems to be very interested in the writing process as much as the product).
And as for the issue of how much to include yourself in the piece, I agree with Matt and Kelly, about trying things and seeing how they work. I also think that keeping the purpose of the writing in mind, and maybe even the theme of the profile will help, so maybe thinking about what story you are trying to tell and how you fit into that story, if that makes sense. Good luck with your portfolio!