Thursday, September 22, 2011

Chapter 7-8 Post

Chapter 7 does a good job explaining on how writing works. Murray talks about writing what's right. It could be about the sequence of things and what order they go in. The middle, the end, the beginning...it fits with the flow that the writer goes with. Later on in the chapter, Murray explains the different types of writing such as character, dramatic action, internal/external dialogue, and much more. These are ways of narrative writing and usually the story begins with a leading character. He or she is generally the main person of the story and they open up to us about their lives. Who they are, what they're personalities are like, how they act, and much more. The place is usually the setting of the play. Where is it taking place at? And the person is usually narrating the story. Is it told in third person or first person?

Reporting to Surprise

I've read in Murray's chapter that when it comes to "reporting to surprise", the author needs to use ten senses. They are sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, self, change, effect, conflict, and context. The sight sense is all about seeing what the writer can visualize. Hearing is all about listening and expecting what to hear. Tasting the sense of writing would help make the story come to life if you can crave it. Touching is getting a feel of what you're writing about. Knowing what you are writing about and who for. Smelling in what is being described as a detail in a story. You can almost sense a patch of brownies coming out of the oven and smelling fresh. Changing is all about being aware and the writer will make many of those. Effect can have a big impact, especially on journalists in which they do not always possess the quality of a persistant feeling of how the news will effect his/her audiences. Conflicts come and go and they occur a lot in the media. And finally, context is another mishap of journalism. They need to talk about the importance of the context more often.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Chapter 5-6 Discussion

The discussion was based on writing and how to do so. There are many ways to use writing when it comes to creating a story, or article, or piece, or whatever. The following elements would be voice, background, narrative, problem, tension, face, dialogue, and much more. I found that these elements help with writing leads and each has advantages and disadvantages.