Dear Ms. Blumenthal,
Thank you for taking the time to be a part of Dr. Vardell’s Advanced Literature for Young Adults
class. I found your response to Sylvia interesting since I too didn’t particularly like history class in my youth due to the dry textbooks, rote memorization, and disinterested staff, but I am drawn to it now. It may stem from when my own children were learning about historical events; I’ve also grown fond of historical novels, which in turn, makes me want to learn more about the “background” of those novels.
I enjoyed your article in the Wall Street Journal entitled “When It’s Right to ‘Unwrite.’” I have
not written anything professionally, but can relate to your comments when writing papers for university classes. I think the art of “fine-tuning” is not as easy as some may think. I especially appreciate how you consider your audience carefully and decide whether adding or “unwriting” a part is necessary to their understanding of the topic.
As an author of nonfiction, what do find to be the most challenging aspect of creating your books? You mentioned the challenges of finding (and paying for) just the right photographs and cartoons in your September 19th post on the Cynsations blog. Is this the most challenging?
Again, thank you for your time!
Annette Pierce
I too enjoyed the article "When It's Right to Unwrite". That is such a clever new word. You are not really rewriting but chosing instead not to use something that you have written. Unwriting shows the respect the author has for their readers when the choice is made to exclude a piece of writing that has taken a lot of time and effort. The article is a great piece to have students read and help them realize that they don't have to use everything that they write, that is is OK to choose to exclude something they have already written if it doesn't fit the entire piece. It is the quality that counts not the quantity. Thank you Ms. Blumenthal for your wonderful insight as an author.
ReplyDeleteCynthia Molinar
TWU MLS student