Too many writers mistakenly believe that quotations are the spice of writing, that they add authentic voices to the subject dtiblog. Wrong, in almost every case. More than anything, quotations are used to pad documents rather than augment them. Writing that is driven by quotations is writing without a voice.
I learned that lesson the hard way HP DL Server. When I graduated from Arizona State University with my journalism degree and got my first newspaper job in the Sedona/Verde Valley area of central Arizona, I had no confidence in my note-taking ability so I used a recorder habitually. Because I captured so many verbatim comments I would write stories leaden with direct quotations. Some of my stories were 50 percent or more quoted material!
Finally, an experienced editor took notice that I was using a recorder and building my stories largely on quotations. Wisely, he suggested I set the record aside and start taking notes by hand, writing down only the most pertinent information and choicest quotations. Over-quoting was a “lazy way” to report, he said, urging me to tell the story in my own voice, which is the reporter’s job. It’s always more difficult to synthesize and write content in our own words than to simply parrot the words of others maggie sottero aleah. But the former’s payoff for readers is far better.
As I later realized — after becoming an editor myself and wrestling with stories from reporters and businesspeople guilty of the same excesses — over-quoting leaves stories rudderless. There is no narrative voice. Instead, it becomes a choir of voices that leaves a story without any single, distinctive voice to lead readers through the news article, essay, report, or any number of professional documents. Writing that lacks a narrative voice is writing that is quickly abandoned by readers.
It’s important that a piece of writing have a narrator, an overriding voice, somebody who the reader can achieve familiarity with, if not intimacy. Somebody they trust, somebody whose voice is one they recognize as their guide. Only then does a story have real direction. Only then can it connect with the reader. That is why readers will express admiration for a particular writer’s style. But a writer never develops a writing style if he simply surrenders the copy to a variety of different voices of sometimes questionable tonality chain saw.
I often point to the Wall Street Journal and Fortune magazine as excellent guideposts for the proper percentage of quotations. They use few and very good quotes, so much so that when finished you can remember the quotes. Memorability is part of what give quotations their power. The person who uses quotations voluminously takes away their power. Quotations are far more powerful when used selectively and sparingly.
Another publication I often cite — though an extreme one on this topic — is The Economist. The writing is almost entirely expository, and outstanding. Rarely will you find a quote on the pages of The Economist, which is the other extreme.
Gay Talese — the legendary New York Times’ reporter and author of books such as Thy Neighbor’s Wife, The Kingdom and the Power and Honor Thy Father, says this about quotations: “I have gotten away from direct quotations. Almost without exception, you can say it better if you don’t have to stay within the quotes that come out of a person’s mouth.” Yes, Talese uses quotations but only those that pass a rigorous criterion.
Bob Howard, former managing editor of the Los Angeles Business Journal, used to tell reporters that quotes were to be used sparingly, “like seasoning,” to flavor the story. In writing, as in cooking, too much seasoning ruins the dish. This culinary analogy is one we can easily relate to.
For convenience sake, I still use a recorder when interviewing sources, but because of the lessons learned I’ve discontinued over-quoting. Most of my stories, blog posts and other pieces of writing have very few quotations, and I’m very selective about the ones I include. Rather than liberally quoting my source material, I distill and present it as expository writing, while still attributing the content to the proper sources. (It’s important to also resist the urge to use too much attribution. But that’s a subject for another day.)
So collect the information you must, but be scrupulous about using only the finest and most telling quotations. Be a hardnosed guardian over the copy you write joyworld.
Order by http://www.breeprom.com/vera-wang-wedding-dress-dora_p3563.html