Throw Away What You Learned In High School
I loved Glass’s advice on the use of anecdote. I’ve always noted it’s importance in writing and reading, however, I never realized how important is it to use story and anecdote in the broadcasting world. I agree with Glass that “writing with a topic sentence and then the facts following it,” is a boring and formulaic way to think and write. I love his idea to spruce up our work by sharing a personal story and not just by throwing in a random childhood story we find nostalgic or compelling, but carefully making sure our anecdote works with what we are trying to portray. Glass stresses the importance of the basic building blocks of our work and how they contribute to sequence. “The power of the anecdote is so great that no matter how boring the material is… it has a momentum.” Anecdote creates a flow the work whether it be broadcasted or written or spoken and if done right can be very successful and effective to the listener/reader.
2 responses so far
I like this piece of advice because I feel it can really help to add to the message or point of a work when an anecdote is included. The best messages are often felt when they are emphasized indirectly, such as through stories, rather than direct statements, which can be seen by fables that have been passed down throughout history. Anecdotes allow us to relate more to a person or experience and can help make a work feel more human and emotional.
The power of the anecdote certainly is great, but it is also difficult to wield. Sometimes a story with a logical sequence is just as boring as a story without. It really comes down to the tone that it is told. This is especially true in our audio-essay project; we want to capture the flow of events but always noting the tone that we use to engage the listeners. It is difficult to achieve – something that I always have trouble with…