A profile with attitude
I read this article Her Life Is a Real Page-Turner in The New York Times a couple of weeks ago and keep it on my desk for inspiration. It's a slice-of-life story about Sarah McNally and her independent (and thriving!) bookstore in Manhattan. A rarity these days.
I love the tone. The author, Jan Hoffman, fills the article with witty and original observations that seem to perfectly capture the main character. For example, "Who else can go to war with Amazon but an Amazon warrior?" We've already been told that McNally is a "tall, ethereal Canadian.."
It's conversational: "It was so other....And?...'Alas,' she said. It's revealing: "'I have A.D.D.,' she said, her slender arms flying, like a crane."
The lead grabbed me "To keep her independent bookstore not only solvent but thriving (revenue is racing ahead of last year by 16 percent), Sarah McNally has a limitless supply of small tricks up her sleeve. And a whirring, wheezing behemoth at her side" and then the language and tone kept me reading to the end.
But for all of the breeziness, it is a serious business story about an independent book store succeeding in this age of e-books. Bravo Jan Hoffman!
Wonderful read. Like the legendary Square Books in Oxford, MIssissippi, Independent bookstores are dwindling treasures. Will future generations know the joys of getting lost in a bookstore on rainy day? Somehow browsing Amazon does not quite measure up.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Cheers,
Lee
I enjoyed the reading a lot. Thanks for sharing! But I’m a bit confused now, precisely when I just got my profile back with the final comments on it. What I noticed the most in the comments I received is that my problem is I used some adjectives that seemed opinioned to my ‘reader’ in this case Jeremy and Angelia which I didn’t see as opinion, but rather as descriptive of what I saw and noticed as a reporter.
ReplyDeleteHowever, in reading this profile of Sarah McNally, I find a lot of similarities in the way Hoffman described her, with the way I tried to describe my subject. I used words such as ‘assertive’ and ‘blessed’ and those were marked as opinion and vague.
But when I read Hoffman, he uses many adjectives that are impossible to measure and are really subjective if we are strict to the presentation of facts rather than opinions.
For example, when Hoffman says McNally “has a limitless supply of small tricks up her sleeve” I think it describes how she has had to find many different ways to keep her library up and running under the circumstances, right?
Or when he says McNally will lead you “with passion and charm through her mind’s labyrinthine byways.” Again I think the words ‘passion’ and ‘charm’ can be in a way subjective, but they still are attributes you can see in a person’s character without being this merely an opinion.
I’m fairly new to journalism as a way to write for others. I used to write only academic papers and some personal essays on my blog, so sometimes these kinds of things result pretty confusing….
Do you use only adjectives that are factual and measurable when you write? And not only a profile, but other types of papers? How do I recognize where it is appropriate to use these types of descriptions and where it will seem merely an opinion?
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated!