"Writing Tools" point summarizations

1.) Order tools for emphasis. I love this technique in writing. The reader is perusing a seemingly 'normal' sentence, when BAM!, the ending just blows them out of the water. Clark writes that, "Putting strong stuff at the beginning and end helps writers hide weaker stuff in the middle." (Pg. 16). And he's totally right. He's also right about converting passive and 'to be' verbs into the active- it makes the story that much more cohesive and the sentence itself more interesting.
2.) Watch those adverbs. Sage advice Clark gives about adverbs- use them sparingly. When used correctly, adverbs are great and only emphasize an already mediocre/good verb or adjective. However, when used incorrectly or too often, they get redundant and annoying and take away from the description and flow of the story.
3.) Take it easy on the -ings. I never even thought of this, which makes it easy to say that I've probably committed this error far too often. Clark writes that the reason -ings become commonplace is "...in the history of English as an inflected language." (Pg. 31). The progressive sense of the action makes it seem as though it's constantly ongoing. It's confusing to the reader and gives no timeline or context to the story.
4.) Fear not the long sentence. God bless Clark for this piece of wisdom. I always got in troupble in reporting for writing ridiculously run-on sentences, I just love them. Clark also gives quite possibly the best advice in this passage, "Write what you fear." (Pg. 36). He also says to let form follow function with long sentences, which rhythmically makes sense. Journalists shy away from them because they prefer clarity and consistency, but sometimes a good, long sentence just carries the story and describes a setting like nothing else can.
5.) Know when to back off and when to show off. Absolutely critical. Clark advocates both understatement and overstatement, as there exists a time and place for both. I agree with him when he writes, "When the topic is most serious, understate; when least serious, exaggerate." (Pg. 103). The topic and tone of the story is vital to knowing how in-depth to elaborate or whether you're better off letting the story simply tell itself. Ultimately, Clark reveals he prefers the Spartan style of writing, but in some of the examples he provides and, as is the beauty of writing, the writer of the story is granted his own freedom.

"Coffee Shop Rock Star" Analysis

I really loved doing this piece about Chris- a seemingly ordinary, run of the mill kind of guy who is normally overlooked and underappreciated, especially in his kind of work- turn out to be this humanitarian/teacher/rocker dude. He was an awesome subject to interview. I loved the interview I got from Tony, who just was the funniest guy and obviously Chris' biggest fan and friend. Their, especially Tony's, vernacular was hilarious and makes for some colorful reading. After more intensive reading of the piece, I wish I'd made it longer. My interviews with Chris were very long and I felt like I had so much, too much, material to choose from and while trying to whittle the story down to the meaty bits, I think I lost some in the process. It could've easily been 10 pages instead of four. I also wish I would've done more description in this piece. I relied heavily on metaphors and they're great, but they can only take the reader so far. I would've liked to have done more "show, don't tell" type of descriptions, in hindsight.