Identifying Great Writing

Identifying Great Writing

When I was a reporter at the Cincinnati Post, my desk faced the desk of Michael Kelly. We both came to the Post at about the same time; we were both young and eager to make a name for ourselves. Mike was one of the best writers I ever new. He would eventually go on to edit the New Republic magazine and was, sadly, killed while covering the second war in Iraq. He could really spin a clever and creative phrase. He was a great storyteller. I loved his writing.

He would write a book about his experiences covering the first Gulf War. The book, “Martyrs’ Day: Chronicle of a Small War,” is one of my favorites. It is written in Mike’s unique style. He crafts words and images like no one else. There is a patois, or distinctive rhythm, to his style. Take this example, from the beginning of the chapter, “Delusions”:

The first Baghdadi I ever saw was a minder. He greeted me at Saddam International Airport on January 10, 1991, a week before the beginning of Iraq’s most disastrous wars, against the United States of America and thirty-nine allies. A small man in a large suit, oddly furtive in manner, he slid up while I was waiting for may bag under a sign that said that visitors who failed to report for AIDS tests would go to jail. All heepish smiles and flutters of hands, he delivered a strange little welcome speech, the words coming out with hardly any space between them, in a jumbled, jumpy rush.

I’ve been fortunate to know several great writers. When I worked at the Indianapolis Star I had a chance to meet Georgie Anne Geyer. GeeGee, to her friends, has been a pioneering female foreign correspondent, having broken down many barriers. One of my most prized possessions the copy of her book, “Buying the Night Flight, which she gave me. Inside she wrote, “In memory of pleasant evenings in Indiana,” recalling several dinners she had with my wife, Dorie, and me. Like Mike, she is a storyteller and knows how to season her prose in just the right way. I have learned a lot by reading her wonderful stories and syndicated column over the years.

In her book, she describes her experiences in meeting and interviewing world political and social figures. I have always loved the way she begins the chapter which recounts her visit with Chile’s Salvador Allende:

Salvadore Allende always reminded me a bit of a penguin. He was short and square and waddled slightly when he walked. He wore funny little hats that his vanity told him made him attractive to women, and his popping eyes sparkled with bemusement when he laughed. His “socialism” always seemed to me to be extraordinarily well buried under sold bourgeois egotism and the stolid bourgeois comfort in which he lived.

Thinking and Reflection

Now I want you to take a second and think and reflect a bit using the following questions:

1. What do you like (or even dislike) about the two writing samples you just read?

2. How have the authors used adjectives and description? Why do you think they have selected the words they chose to describe the scene? How do they both use interesting contrasts?

3. How does this description reflect the writers’ abilities to observe both their subjects and the things around them? Why, for example, do you think Michael Kelly chose to describe the AIDS warning sign? How does that help place the reader in the scene? How does that advance the story?

4. What have you learned from these that might help you as a writer?

Today’s Reading Assignment

“Place of Sorrows,” from Charles Kuralt’s “On the Road with Charles Kuralt”

“Coming Home,” from Charles Kuralt’s “On the Road with Charles Kuralt”

Thinking and Reflection

Charles Kuralt is one of my very favorite writers. He was, interestingly, a broadcast journalist. He started in radio and made the move to television in the early days of broadcast news. He produced his “On the Road” features for CBS and was the original host of the still-running CBS program “Sunday Morning.” His writing was heavily influenced by his oral (radio) training. I believe that good feature writing should have an oral quality—it should sound good if read aloud. To this day, I use this as a test for my own writing. If it sounds good, and is easy to follow when read aloud, I know it will be equally understandable and clear when read. When you read the assignments for today, try reading them aloud. What do you think?

Note that this means he sentences tend to be short; his choice of description is important and crisp. He is a storyteller (just like Mike and GeeGee). His stories take the reader to a destination, follow a path, and provide the reader with a clear beginning and end. He weaves his background research into the story. He moves his reader with pointed, powerful prose. He does not overwrite. There is a sort of spartan feel to the story. 

Let’s look at “Place of Sorrows.” Note how is begins and ends.

This is about a place where the wind blows and the grass grows and a river flows below a hill. Nothing is here but the wind and the grass and river. But of all the places in America, this is the saddest place I know….

Come here sometime, and you’ll see. There is melancholy in the wind and sorrow in the grass, and the river weeps.

Why is this such a great technique? What do you think?

Note how Kuralt weaves the imagry of the wind, grass, hill and river through the story. Note that it becomes central to his use of description.

Talk about Kuralt’s research and use of facts. How does he manage to turn what is essentially a history lesson into a story? (note that he tells the story of two friends, adds a human/anecdotal angle to the story)

In “Coming Home,” Kuralt places his unique storytelling spin on a family Thanksgiving celebration. This is simply a great story. It was originally broadcast as one of his “On the Road” segments.

He crafts this story in such a way that the reader is bright right into the scene. Anyone who has grown up, left home, and then come back gets this story. It leaves the reader feeling inspired and uplifted. If Thanksgiving is about reflection, this story accomplishes that. Note the beginning:

A long road took nine children out of the cotton fields, out of poverty, out of Mississippi. But roads go both ways, and this Thanksgiving weekend, they all returned. This is about Thanksgiving, and coming home.

One after another, and from every corner of America, the cars turned into the yard. With much cheering and much hugging, the nine children of Alex and Mary Chandler were coming home for their parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary.

Thinking and Reflection

Why do you suppose he chose to introduce us to each child one at a time? Why did he choose the facts and details he included? Why are they so critical to the story?

What is unique about the patois or rhythm of his writing? How does the oral quality make the story more powerful? What is clever about is imagery of the “road”?

How do you think he comes up with and finds these stories?

Your Blog Assignment [Due Jan. 11 @ 5 p.m.]

Who is your favorite feature writer and why? I want you to write a 500-word blog that addresses this. Tell me about your favorite writer, his or her writing style. Why is this person your favorite? What is unique about his or her writing style? The types of stories he or she tells? Give an example or two from his or her writing and explain.