« Loving Oranges | Main | Ode to an Orange »
September 08, 2005
Woiwode's Approach to Writing
After I read "Ode to an Orange," I went back to the beginning and read the little biography on Larry Woiwode on page 48. In this biography Woiwode says that writing fiction is paradoxical in that the more simple, specific, and succinct a sentence, the more readers can relate to or take from it. He says that if you wanted to describe the state of North Dakota to someone who has never been there, then you are better off describing it with a sentence about a specific place rather than trying to encompass the feel of the entire state into that one sentence.
Woiwode proves his theory correct in "Ode to an Orange." I am not a huge fan of oranges and I definitely have never experienced as deep a wanting for an orange as Woiwode has, but because he pointed out such specific characteristics of an orange and took the time to describe each of these characteristics separately, I, someone who has not felt the urge to have an orange in years, came away from this essay knowing exactly how it felt to want to eat an orange with such an intensity as Woiwode had as a child. He succeeded in making someone slightly unfamiliar with the experience feel as though he/she could relate to the impulse. This proves that specifics give a universality, as Woiwode says in the biography, to writing.
For me, the most impressive thing about this essay isn't so much the flow of the writing or the subject itself, but more the fact that Woiwode wrote this piece with a plan in mind, yet made it so that the average reader is not aware of what he is trying to do. Had I not read the biography part at the beginning, I would never have figured out why it was that I was able to get so involved in such an unfamiliar experience. This kind of preparation and almost sublimal scheming on Woiwode's part is what, I think, makes this a fun essay to read.
Posted by lcissullivan at September 8, 2005 06:40 PM
Comments
I chose to reflect on this post simply because it was the first one I wrote this semester, and it's always easier to critique something that you have distanced yourself from. However, even though this was my first post, I can still remember some of my thought processes while writing it. I overall liked Woiwode's essay, but I don't think I was as crazy about it as other people, so I tried to focus on what I thought was good about it, which was the tactic Woiwode used in writing it.
One thing I noticed right away upon reading this post is that in the second paragraph one of my sentences is five lines long...that's a little much. I realize now that when I was writing this sentence I was literally writing exactly what was going on in my head. I was having this long thought, and since that thought was connected and flowing in my head it came out the same exact way on the blog. However, when I read this sentence now, without that same thought in my head, I realize that it's hard to follow. My message would have be much more coherent if I had broken it up into several smaller sentences.
I still hold the same opinion about "Ode to an Orange" as I did when I wrote this post. If I were given this assignment now, I would probably produce a similar posting despite everything I have learnt in class. Actually that's not completely true, I think I would appreciate more Woiwode's ability to describe things without sounding cliche. After writing my own ode, I realized that it is very hard, at least for me, to describe things in great detail without sounding fake or generic. Woiwode is able to pull this off though, which is impressive in itself.
I hope that my writing has improved at least somewhat in this past month, but I feel like it is too soon to tell. I tend to change slowly, but hopefully by the end of the semester there will be a noticeable difference in this "Ode to an Orange" post and some of the posts I will be writing in the near future.
Posted by: Brenna S. at September 26, 2005 07:40 PM
Brenna, I found your original post strong, clear, succinct, and articulate. go back and fix that sentence that bugged you and anything else you think keeps this from being perfect, and then sit back with a satisfied smile and appreciate a job well done.
Posted by: ellen at September 27, 2005 02:36 PM