Module
230: Effective Interpretive Writing
Supplemental Reading and Activities
Component
"The Writing Process"
There are four basic steps in the writing process. Writers
of all abilities can use this process to analyze and
improve their writing.
1)
Pre-writing: the initial step of a writing project (5-10
minutes). During this important time, freely generate
and record thoughts and ideas related to the topic.
Discover your feelings and thoughts about the topic
before imposing grammatical or thematic structure (ignore
your "inner editor," i.e., during pre-writing,
don't edit your thoughts).
Pre-writing
can be used when you have a mental block about the topic;
you have no strong feelings about or connections with
the topic; or, you have difficulty beginning a writing
project because of fear of failure or other reasons.
Because prescriptive grammar and complete thought structure
are not part of pre-writing, freedom and creativity
predominate.
Method:
Simply focus on the topic and record questions, partial
thoughts, feelings, or whatever enters your mind. Most
likely, your topic relates to a tangible resource in
your park. If so, generate a list of all the associations
you make with that resource, including intangible ideas.
Pre-writing can inspire the basis for several possible
tangible/intangible links, from which you can select
the most significant one as your theme.
2)
Drafting: begin to craft your pre-writing raw material
into a thematically structured piece aimed at a specific
medium and audience. First, write a complete sentence
expressing your main idea about the topic (a theme statement).
In interpretive writing, a strong and meaningful theme
statement makes a tight link between the tangible resource
and intangible or universal concepts. All ideas in the
writing must support the theme statement, and be appropriate
for the medium and audience.
You
may need to repeat some pre-writing activities to generate
good supporting details for the theme statement. You
may also find that you need to do more research on your
subject. Organize the supporting details for your theme
statement into paragraphs.
When
you have finished your first draft, set it aside. Reread
it later, asking yourself whether you have met the goals
for the project. Revise accordingly. (This is the appropriate
place to resurrect your "inner editor.") When
you are ready to go public, move on to the next step.
3)
Revising: This stage includes self review, and editing
by peers and other editors. Revision means rewriting
parts that do not serve your purpose. First revisions
should concentrate on clarity of ideas, not on mechanical
errors. Interpretive writing products should go through
several rounds of revision before the final draft is
produced.
One
way to pinpoint weaknesses in your writing is to ask
the readers you have selected to look for patterns of
errors. You might find, for example, that one particular
grammatical error persistently surfaces, and that by
addressing that one error you significantly improve
your writing. Good writing is the result of much time,
thought, and discipline; many resources are available
to help you improve your writing ability.
Choice
of editors: choose your editors carefully. One or more
should be intimately connected with the topic, while
one or more should know nothing about it. Again, consider
your identified readership and determine whether anything
in your draft gets in the way of reaching that audience.
Redraft your product after seriously considering the
comments and questions of your reviewers.
PERSONAL
STYLE: is inescapable--it is simply the way that
you craft sentences and paragraphs. Examples of successful
writers with very different styles are Edward Abbey,
who tends to favor simple sentences and short paragraphs,
and Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose style relies heavily
on complex sentences joined into lengthy paragraphs.
Style is developed over time with practice, review,
and examination of other writing styles.
Examples
of Interpretive Writing and Personal Styles
Here are several sources of quality nonfiction writing,
which evoke passion and impact.
Authors
Berton, Pierre -- History
Carson, Rachel -- Natural history
Catton, Bruce -- Civil War
Commager, Henry Steele -- American history
Eiseley, Loren -- Philosophy of science
Foote, Shelby -- Civil War
Gould, Steven J. -- Philosophy of science
Leopold, Aldo -- Land ethic
McKibben, Bill -- Science and ethics
McPhee, John -- Nature and history
Sacks, Oliver -- Medicine
Sagan, Carl -- Physical science
Sandoz, Mari -- History
Schell, Jonathan -- Science and ethics
Stegner, Wallace -- Creative nonfiction/fiction
Tuckman, Barbara -- History
Williams, Terry Tempest -- Creative nonfiction
Periodicals
Orion
National Geographic
The New Yorker
Earth Magazine
Natural History Magazine
Smithsonian Magazine
Northern Lights
Petroglyph
High Country News
EDITORIAL STYLE (mechanics and other elements
of style): the rules and conventions that, taken together,
create a style. All final interpretive writing products
should be free of typographical, spelling, and grammatical
errors (mechanics), and other errors or inconsistency.
Many parks create their own "house style,"
and manuals exist that establish recognized styles.
4)
Publishing: the final stage of the process, where your
writing reaches the audience. Seize this opportunity
to gain valuable insights about your writing from your
readers' responses.
Tenets
of Good Writing
Use active rather than passive voice
"We will develop the plan," versus "The
plan will be developed."
"Rifles littered the battlefield," versus,
"The battlefield was littered with rifles"
Use action verbs
"She ran," versus "She moved rapidly
from one place to the other."
Keep it simple
Stay focused
Have a strong openings
Show, don't tell
"Her hair stands on end," versus "She
feels frightened."
Avoid cliches
Avoid too many modifiers, intensifiers, and superlatives
"It was a large, green, hairy, giant monster."
"It is the most beautiful mountain."
Vary sentence length
Choose specific words that convey your exact meaning
"strawberries," rather than "fruit."
Use a memorable ending
Eliminate wordiness
Be consistent
Additional exercises regarding personal style:
1. Select short pieces from three of your favorite authors.
These can be fiction or non-fiction. Why do you enjoy
these pieces? Do they create mental images? Do they
make tangible/intangible linkages?
2.
Select a short piece from an author you typically don't
read or don't enjoy. Why is this piece less satisfactory
for you?
Through
these examinations, you should be able to discern elements
of your own personal writing style. It is human nature
to prefer styles similar to our own.
Types
of Writing for Media
Types
of writing: Scientific or historical: text most commonly
written to share knowledge with a group of similar academic
background. Used most heavily in the science or history
community, this type of writing typically reports research
findings. Other than posing questions relating to theories
and proposing hypotheses, this type of writing does
not stray from a provable factual basis. Scientific
writing, for example, might describe the biology of
an animal and theories regarding its evolutionary relationships.
Technical
and informational: similar to scientific writing,
technical writing is based exclusively in fact, follows
a chronology, and leads the reader to accomplish a specific
task or learn a skill. With a concrete purpose, technical
writing has its roots in statistics, operations, and
mechanical processes. Technical writing might describe
how to set up a baseline data program to gather information
on the animal species discussed in a scientific article.
Interpretive
writing: draws from technical, scientific, historical,
and cultural sources. Combined with personal experience
and style, it evokes an emotional or intellectual response
from the reader. It incorporates questioning, dialogue,
imagery, or other techniques that create a personal
link between the resource and audience. Interpretive
writing appeals to a general audience, engenders understanding,
and encourages support for resource preservation.
Professionalism
Write as often as you can
Explore different styles; take risks with your writing
Practice selfcritique
Read as much as you can
Search out a variety of styles
Critique the material you read, regardless of the source
Serve as a peer editor for others
Regularly review your own work
Seek peer review
Learn to accept editorial suggestions and criticism
as potentially useful reactions
Always assess your work in terms of bias, point of view,
inclusion, and balance.
