Comments on: How to Write Narrative Essays Using Scenes

By: Simone Marie

Simone Marie — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:44:44 +0000

Oops — meant *most beneficial.* They are equally beneficial!

By: Simone Marie

Simone Marie — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:43:06 +0000

I think it is, to a certain degree, very natural, more natural than the way most short, destination-oriented travel articles are written. I’d love to see more like them, and more venues looking for such pieces. They really sink into the reader; they can be heart and soul changing the way no purely expositional pieces can be.

Thanks for the very straight froward, easy to grasp advice. Short of reading your article, the more beneficial research we writers can all do is read the best narrative work out there. For something you can pick up each day for a buck 75, The New York Times feature articles often do this very well, and succinctly (that last attribute being a bit rare when it comes to this style.)

By: Tabatha

Tabatha — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:25:52 +0000

Such helpful information, thanks!

By: David Miller

David Miller — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:07:14 +0000

Thanks for the bigups y’all. I spent a few years really dedicating to this form, trying to turn almost anything you could think of–a day on a farm, a day in the life of a chef, a longtime restaurateur trying to open a new place–into a “story,” into something that read differently from everything else that was being published at the local alt. weeklies and newspapers I worked for. I was heavily influenced by Gay Talese at the time.

Writing this way can be super time-consuming, but as a reader, I’m always thankful when something moves along with action, scene, tension. When all is ’said and done’ I still think most people see the world as protagonists in their own drama. So reading essays as stories makes sense. It seems natural.

By: Turner

Turner — Thu, 14 May 2009 22:48:56 +0000

It could go either way – I’d be willing to bet more residents of Austin climb it than those of Fredericksburg.

By: Hal

Hal — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:41:32 +0000

Echoing Tim, I love instructional essays that also read simply and smoothly. Thanks also to the guidance you provided for that Chacaltaya piece.

Turner, if you’re going to climb Enchanted Rock, shouldn’t you be talking about the German heritage of Fredericksburg?

By: Jerry Jaz

Jerry Jaz — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:24:00 +0000

Wonderful example. Reminds me of the most recent Utne Reader and the article ok the mine that eats men.

By: Turner

Turner — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:50:34 +0000

Good example. Now to go climb Enchanted Rock and discuss Austin’s hippie-esque nature…

By: Tim Patterson

Tim Patterson — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:25:22 +0000

Excellent advice, clear and well-illustrated. Thanks, DM.