Writing for Print and Online Media

UMass Boston || English 307 || Fall 2014 || Prof. Erin Anderson

Author: timothymilch001

Stories with Pictures are Always Better.

Both pieces were captivating because of their interactive nature. The stories feel more of an activity than a burden or a chore. By adding tangible attachments (pictures, audio) it helps solidify the readers perspective of the piece.  I focused on Soon There Will Be No Survivors, a piece about Holocaust victims and their declining populations and living conditions. The Audio in the foreground of the piece right as it is opened pulls the attention of the reader right in before they even begin scrolling for words. This piece would not be nearly as gripping if it were not for the pictures and audio that’s included. The description of these unique individuals alone would not suffice. They deserved to be seen and especially heard. Though it somewhat interrupted the flow of the piece to stop and listen to each individual account,  the listener receives an experience from a first hand account of horror and adventure. I do think more pictures of the interviewee in their daily life would have been a good addition to the piece.

Putting pictures into my piece would make it far more interesting. Bits from my interview would allow the listener to become more familiarized with my subject, being able to put a voice ad personality to her anecdotes. I should also add a small clip of the pilot that she starred in just a few months ago, giving the reader a solid visual, further connecting all aspects of my subject. Why were books when you were young easy to read? Because of the pictures. They do a large majority of telling in a story. They are a refreshing rest stop for the eye that is required to enjoy, relax, and explore instead of wearing out the pupils with run on descriptive sentences.

Consistency in Them

“If I were a bitch, I’d be in love with Biff Truesdale. Biff is perfect. He’s friendly. good-looking. rich, famous, and in excellent physical condition. He almost never drools. He’s not afraid of commitment. He wants children-actually, he already has children and wants a lot more. He works hard and is a consummate professional. but he also knows how to have fun.”

Susan Orleans grabs the attention of the reader by seeming perverse, but really plays around with canine terminology in this piece. “Bitch” being used to describe a female dog, she lures the eyes to continue reading to figure out whom this man is that she is willing to be a bitch for.  Her writing style is simple, easy to follow, and colorful. She brings the character to life by personifying his emotions, even comparing him to Bill Clinton. Biff is a professional and he understands his abilities. He fluidly follows his celebrity caliber schedule and exemplifies traits of an actual human being. Even with the description of his most subtle actions like rolling his eyes, or sighing out of contempt.

The roles of the human and canine seem reversed in this story as the reporter takes on the role of the idle bystander, the usual role of a pet. She uses phrases like ” as I pawed through the files” to accomplish this. Her thorough use of canine terms tie this piece together and always remind the reader that this dog “with an attitude” is in fact a glorified pet and not the suave (human) gentlemen that we imagine him as.

I think her use of syntax and the flow of this story is what I plan on taking to use in my article. It’s about not doing too much and using sentence structure that captures the same essence as the character. Orleans’ tone was witty yet simple. Her descriptions of Biff’s owners, handlers, and their interactions with the dog were well executed because they were not polluted with complicated sentences. The piece therefore read itself. When writing a profile piece, the writer should not try to impress the reader with fancy vernacular, but be the clearest you can be to properly capture the subject.

Capturing Emotion and Personality

When publishing a page, it is empirical to capture a story that harbors honest emotion. Both of these stories involve two very passionate people who selflessly help animals around them, despite the consequences. The personalities of the two subjects could not be more different, yet they are distinct in their setting. Knight does a solid job of capturing Sean’s emotion and stature with the help of her photographer Jessica Bal, as  the descriptions depict the main character very accurately. The zany behavior of Bernie Goetz is exemplified through the words of Molly Socha, and further solidified by her Photographer Colleen Frakes as she gets Goetz so candidly deep in thought as he feeds the squirrels. These stories bring to life the two subjects by capturing their personality so well both showing and telling.

Another feature to a good published post, is shattering the readers expectations. What both writers did so well was frame their subject first in bizarre terms. Sean, too quiet of a person who commands respect of so many animals, or Bernie, a “vigilante” who was infamously known for shooting a group of black men as they tried to rob him. Neither person is highlighted immediately, giving the reader the chance to create some sort of expectations of stereotypes that will only be shattered within the next several paragraphs. Every reader likes a twist, and when the potential villain ends up being the hero, everyone is a winner.

 

An Interview with Lars Borror-Chappell

Hope to get good revision advice. Enjoy.

Constant State of Creation: Brandon Boyd

This webpage is an interactive site that allows fans to enjoy artwork and be kept up on the recent and soon coming moves of the artist of Brandon Boyd. Most known for his vocals and lyrics within the band Incubus, he engineers his website to display his creative personality as a whole. His paintings, sketches and writings are all included.

Aesthetically it is a sharp design for a website being just white and bold black lines. It seems clean and offers a clean slate to better enhance the quality of his images, letting the colors and lines be better examined and appreciated. The information is very deliberate and simply written. Easy to follow yet very informational and chronologically filled. The tone is one that is cool yet humble. It reflects an artist and his eclectic talents. The page is not too busy as if to attract attention and be boastful, but rather simple and allows the artwork to speak for itself.

The webpage flows well. Each clock is followed with a seamless transition to the next page. The professional essence is one that I wish to emulate on my page. One that does not do “too much” but provides everything just enough.  The combination of color pictures with the sharp design tightly seals the outlook of this webpage design.

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Tiny Night Terrors

These interviews had excellent background noises that enhanced the suspense and amplify the emotion of the subjects being interviewed. The stories flowed seamlessly and showed rather than told. All of the sound effects give the interview a great sense of motion and make the listener feel involved. The music that follows moments of misfortune and moments of shear gravity such as when the woman says that they have had no choice but to live with hundreds of roaches or the scene of the woman discovering another colony of bedbugs in her couch gives the listener a moment to capture the emotion of both subjects.  The tambour and reporting style of this segment is very easy to listen to as all of the reporters are simply speaking without any grandiose accentuation’s. As Ira Glass said, it is important for the listener to listen to people talking, not underlining every third word and distracting them from the message of the story itself.

For my piece I want to capture a candid conversation with my subject.; a still shot of a moment through the prose of one another. My storytelling site is a noisy convenience store corner with many customers and movement.  I plan on using all of the natural ambient noise as it will help paint a picture of the true environment much like ” Sleeps Tiniest Enemies” did with the homes of the interviewees.

The Counter Exchange

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“That is going to be three dollars please.”

 

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He scanned my I.D. for nearly two minutes before reaching back for the pack of cigarettes I had originally asked him for. I had the time to count all of the scratch tickets that were flowing behind him. 34 different kinds.

 

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Chino sits behind the counter from six thirty in the morning to ten at night selling the neighborhood all of their fixes. Candy, Carcinogens, Soda, and Sold out Lottery Dreams.

Curious Animals

I chose this picture not only based on its good photographic form but also the mood it captures between to strange curious creatures that are encountering for the first time. This image has exemplary instances of Symmetry and depth and follows to a tee the rule of thirds. The position each man is standing in this photograph properly splits up the picture into thirds, allowing the picture to not only be even but multidimensional. The meeting dogs in the center of the photo serve as a proper focal point where the eyes eventually fall after they roll off the shoulders of the gentleman on the front left. The picture is balanced as there is a more important figure is in the foreground first grabbing the viewers attention yet helps direct the flow of the eyes with the angle of the elbows, to the dogs, to then the man. Also adding to the depth of this photo is the mountain tops in the distance. It gives the viewer the sense of a vast hilly environment.  This picture is far from flat.

A theme within this blog was adventure. Many of these people did not have much. Some had to survive out of their cars while some decided to sell it all away, buy and RV and live on the open road. This is an exhilarating but relatively stressful and unsafe way to live. When ones life is on wheels, the end destination and the people you meet along the way is always surprising. And to exist in the wild one must act natural to survive. The people in this photo seem bashful and timid to encounter one another as their body language suggest they are walking in different directions and wish to keep it that way. But the animals in this moment disregard human inhibitions and let their curiosities get the best of them. This photo fits as a token to the traveler and the adventurer; be curious, and be willing to make friends first.

As a viewer I interpret this photo as a glimpse of a moment between the crossing of two walks of life. The young man in the photo appears to be more rugged and raw than the touristy looking traveler with the tweed hat on. But the dogs sever all prejudices and differences between the two as they seem exhilarated to see one of their kind on the road. But in the parking lots of Walmart, there is a cultural blend of people existing in them. As the dogs do, these people develop small communities and offer help when it is needed. There is no discriminating clubs or classes. Just people who are to cross one night of occupancy at a time. look-walmart-slide-75R8-jumbo

Tim with a T

Photo on 12-30-13 at 12.56 AM

ORIGIN: Marshfield, Massachusetts.

BEHAVIORS: Writing, Playing Music,  a totally excellent workout, Lacrosse, and being Mr. Vacation at the beach.

HABITAT: Southie dweller, Local 149 Waiter, Stage lingerer.

CHARACTERISTICS: Work horse, Pun making specialist.

CALL: How goest it brotherin?

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