Midterm Synthesis

While reading John McPhee, I feel as though I'm learning more about what it takes to be a good writer. The biggest points for me so far have been: well researched, speech like writing, small picture to big picture, and trust in your own interests.

McPhee is fantastic at approaching a subject with an ability to explain it simply. A skill that is only possible if you have a solid grasp on what you're writing about. He accomplishes this by conducting a variety of interviews. It's been through this class that I realized how interviewing is almost like fact creation. In the same way that we constantly have to be citing our sources in academic writing, journalists have to cite other people. The person you choose, and your ability to explain why they're a qualified source that you should trust, is almost more important than the quote you choose to use from them. McPhee knows, not only how to ask good questions but also, who and where to find the right people.

The flow and sound of the words carry a huge impact as well. Like our classic example from "In Virgin Forest" of the use of ",yes," McPhee can write like you would imagine he speaks. I guess this creates a sort of informal, casual atmosphere that allows readers to be receptive. A pretentious tone with any hint of elitism will quickly alienate a large percentage of casual readers, and somehow McPhee is able to avoid doing this, even when talking subjects as seemingly esoteric as geological rock formations.

I've heard that a key point to "Journalistic" writing is the movement from a small picture story to a big picture concept. I'm thinking this is one of the techniques that qualifies McPhee's work as "literary journalism." I'm thinking of the stories in "Coming into the Country." He'll take a specific person and explain his situation, what brought him to Alaska, and what obstacles he's encountering. By doing this he creates a single character that is easier to for us to relate to while actually introducing sweeping ideas and issues that are a concern for a whole community, or as in "Coming into the Country," fundamental tendencies in the collective American consciousness.

I have a hunch that John McPhee is a very confident and self reliant human being. It's the only way that I can understand his willingness to write on such a variety of nontraditional topics. He must just trust his own instincts and interests, and know that if he can find something interesting in some topic that it's just a matter of sharpening your tools as a writer before other people will take interest too. I think it's a good lesson for just about everyone. There are far too many people living in far too enclosed of a culture for us to ever believe that we can be alone in anything we think or feel.

From what I've been learning, this may be my favorite part. Trusting that someone can relate to something you honestly find interesting gives you the confidence to write about the topics that you find rewarding and it pretty well guarantees that you'll never run out of stuff to say. McPhee's prolific career is pretty solid proof of this.

-Adam