The Write Writing

Within the flexible category of research writing, Susan Faludi’s “Facebook Feminism, Like it or not”, which I read earlier this year, was particularly inspiring (Faludi, 2013). Faludi’s exploration of numerous topics (primarily rooted in a critique of Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In) is a thrilling integration of sarcasm, humour, over the top metaphors, creativity, and ruthless investigation. Faludi demonstrates enthusiastic research skills, digging into history to uncover the history of women’s labour movements and professional groups in the 19^th century, the trajectory of Lean In’s development (both the book and the organization), and determinedly persists in contacting somewhat resistant Lean In representatives to find answers to her questions (Faludi, 2013). Lest anyone think of her work as merely an opinion piece, Faludi slips in a goldmine of research results. 

 Professor Galey, in his instructions for this week’s blogging topic, praised the work of short story writers, including Alice Munro. My second example is a collection by another skilled short story writer, Raymond Carver. Although the author of numerous books of poetry and short stories, the collection with which I have the most familiarity is his What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (Carver, 1989).

 Sometimes associated with “minimalist” writing, I prefer to think of the structure of Carver’s work as being infused by careful word selection, meaningful description, and a way of conveying emotion without telling the reader any extraneous details. Precisely so, Carver's writing is the work of "show not tell" finery. In this excerpt from Why Don’t You Dance, Carver describes a young man and woman who come upon a complete bedroom set arranged on a lawn: “He sat down on the sofa to watch. He lit a cigarette, looked around, flipped the match into the grass. The girl sat on the bed. She pushed off her shoes and lay back. She thought she could see a star” (Carver, 1989, pg. 5).  Carver's economy of language is an element which I find particularly important when considering my own writing skills. However, both he and Susan Faludi are notable for their commitment to creativity in their writing, maintaining a careful balance between austerity and boundless imagination.  

References

Carver. W. (1989). What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. New York: Vintage Books Edition.

Faludi, S. (2013). Facebook Feminism, Like It or Not. The Baffler: The journal that blunts    the cutting edge. http://thebaffler.com/past/facebook_feminism_like_it_or_not