[stylist] stylist Digest, Vol 85, Issue 21

Thu May 19 18:01:20 UTC 2011

A few things can't be captured in an interview.  Expressions, the tone of 
the interviewee, like Donna said the pauses, what the person does during the 
pauses.  Does he fidget with a piece of paper?  In the expression category 
does he look nervous?  Does he stand by the window for fifteen minutes in 
the process of answering one question?  An interviewer, for the most part, 
does not record these reactions.  However, as we know from personal 
experience, they say a lot about the interviewee and what's going on in his 
mind during the interview.  That's one more thing!  A journalist is not a 
mind reader!  Judith
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2011 1:42 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] stylist Digest, Vol 85, Issue 21


> Bridgit and Kerry,
> Someone said something to the effect that there is always an element of
> fiction in nonfiction and always an element of nonfiction in fiction. As a
> journalist, I try to be accurate and even-handed, but that only goes so 
> far.
> We all right with bias whether hidden or open. Accuracy and truth are 
> ideals
> we strive for. Like other ideals, we rarely succeed fully. This isn't an
> excuse for carelessness; it's just the reality of the human condition. In 
> my
> interviews, I tell people that I will edit their comments for clarity, so
> your friends who want absolute perfect recall probably would disapprove. 
> If
> I were doing adversarial reporting, however, I would be less inclined to 
> be
> the editor. I can't imagine anyone really getting away with reprinting 
> every
> "uh" and extra "and, every pause and repetition of the word just said and 
> so
> on. The point in both fiction and nonfiction is to get the point across.
>
> When I do a profile of someone, I try to get their point across in their 
> own
> words, but if I get answers by e-mail, I'm not going to leave in every
> misspelled word or grammatical error.
> What say ye?
> Donna
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Bridgit Pollpeter
> Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 8:50 PM
> To: stylist at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [stylist] stylist Digest, Vol 85, Issue 21
>
> Donna and Kerry,
>
> I agree, Donna.  Kerry's comments about poetry are astute.
>
> This is the same thinking in creative nonfiction.  Some think in
> nonfiction that every detail, every conversation, be verbatim, and if
> you can't recall things exactly, then you shouldn't write it.
>
> But in CNF, the importance is not so much the exactness of each detail,
> but what was happening emotionally and mentally in a particular moment.
>
> Not that you make stuff up, and you recollect to the best of you
> ability, but the details are secondary to the message.  Just like in
> poetry.
>
> Most poetry is a reflection on some aspect of the writer.  Poetry uses
> imagery and symbols to communicate a thought or idea.  Words create
> moments in poetry that are translating the writers experiences and
> emotions.  It is the expression and the response elicited.
>
> This is how creative nonfiction often works.  Hence the creative part!
> *smile*
>
> Bridgit
>
> Message: 8
> Date: Wed, 18 May 2011 11:47:26 -0400
> From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
> To: <cosmoscat at earthlink.net>, "'Writer's Division Mailing List'"
> <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [stylist] stylist Digest, Vol 85, Issue 20
> Message-ID: <d7f5db$2qvm8q at out01.dlls.pa.frontiernet.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hi Kerry,
> I loved your points about truth in poetry. Well said.
> Donna
>
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