[stylist] Quote to ponder

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Donna,

Your final comment, "Teachers, writers and publishing industry
professionals say or write that
you should do the research to find out how things actually do work, if
you're going to use them in a novel. Yet, this practice seems less
important
than it once was," is interesting. To an extent, I agree with you.

I think it depends on the quality of material a writer works on or a
publisher chooses to publish. There are good and bad writers, editors
and publishers out there, and obviously the material will reflect this.

I can tell you that there are people out there still demanding
excellence, quality and accuracy in writing. Having studied both
creative writing and PR writing, I had instructors and met industry
professionals who expected and demanded this.

With creative writing, one must write in a way that feels realistic,
that comes across as accurate in a presentation of information. We are
told that good, three-dimensional characters are necessary for this
along with a good sense of writing to create a plot. If information
based in reality is used, a writer should possess some knowledge of that
information.

PR writing and journalism should demand facts and accuracy. I was taught
to fact check several times and never, never fabricate information or
even suggest it. Quotes from people should be exact and not paraphrased
or made up in any way. How can we trust the information presented if
it's not been edited with accuracy and honesty?

I will tread lightly here, but this is one down side to self-publishing
including bloggers. Some self-published authors are great writers who
understand the need for this level of accuracy. On the flip side of the
coin, there are plenty of people self-publishing because a traditional
publisher will not accept their work, and many of these people have no
thought for quality and accuracy. There are pros and cons to everything.

So like with anything in life, I think we can find the negative and
positive. Unfortunately there are writing professionals who care nothing
for accuracy, honesty and quality, but there are still those out there
who understand how crucial this is to the writing process and practice
it.

Bridgit



Message: 4
Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2013 17:05:47 -0400
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] Quote to ponder
Message-ID: <5242DBECDCE8421885254CAB56334836 at OwnerHP>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="US-ASCII"

Bridgit,
For me, fiction must have a sense of truth and reality about it. The
reality
draws us in, saying that somehow we can relate to this because we see a
character - no matter how fantastical -- doing something ordinary like
smelling a flower, eating a meal, dressing, worrying and so on. Once
drawn
in, we can see a truth that transcends the fictional vehicle that has
been
chosen to carry its message to a greater audience. 

One of the problems in the greater world of writing that bothers me
these
days is the eroding of journalistic standards. For instance, it was an
online sports site that finally decided to check into the Mante Ta'o
story
(the Heisman contender/Notre Dame football player with the imaginary
girlfriend. None of the major or not so major networks, none of the
sports
magazines, no one looked into the story for months. 

When I mention this to people, many ask me why should anyone have been
suspicious of a young man who lost his grandmother and his girlfriend on
the
same day. What signs were there to evoke suspicion?  That however, is
the
point.

Looking used to be a journalists job, not parroting press releases and
taking the word of the authorities. It wasn't because they were
suspicious
-- except to the degree that an attitude of verification was supposed to
be
the hallmark of the profession. Also, you would look into the young
lady's
life, not expecting to find out she didn't exist but because knowing
more
about her, a detail about her young life , would make for better copy.
You
might find out she was on the yearbook staff, a straight-A student or
won
third prize in a pottery contest. A quick call to an old teacher or
classmate, and you'd have a quote for your article, a bit of a scoop, a
new
angle on the story. The first place you'd look is for her obituary,
knowing
that some of the names and details of her life would probably be
included.
Of course there was no obituary. And, this was a national story, a real
chance to do a little more and get some recognition that would help your
career. No one apparently thought so.

This has its corollary in fiction. When journalism moves away from
investigation and verification, it is all the more acceptable to do so
in
fiction. I see two ways in which this leads to lower quality writing.
The
first is the investigative attitude that helps us re write things to
make
them clearer, to answer the questions the reader is likely to have. The
other is a more parallel habit - the research and inquiry necessary to
create verisimilitude. 

My husband occasionally finds supposed scientific facts in best selling
novels that push him away from that sense of being in a real world.
Teachers, writers and publishing industry professionals say or write
that
you should do the research to find out how things actually do work, if
you're going to use them in a novel. Yet, this practice seems less
important
than it once was.
Donna