tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489685783704493755.post7620281567267609562..comments2023-07-26T09:55:48.093-04:00Comments on S. R. Wood: Big and SmallS R Woodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08934872671798326776noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489685783704493755.post-37463763041142306312008-07-03T14:09:00.000-04:002008-07-03T14:09:00.000-04:00Journalism as archaeology? Archaeologists try to r...Journalism as archaeology? Archaeologists try to reconstruct culture from artifacts; do writers hope to build a story from details? This is an interesting thought. <BR/><BR/>In fiction we can just invent things, of course, but -- and this is critical -- only if they are true to the story. Sometimes that hurts.S R Woodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08934872671798326776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5489685783704493755.post-56397004672650490392008-07-02T22:29:00.000-04:002008-07-02T22:29:00.000-04:00Journalists, on the other hand, are collectors and...Journalists, on the other hand, are collectors and displayers of Found Objects. Sometimes we have lots of the "in-close" details and no unifying theme. Think of trying to pick up a dozen pingpong balls without a net bag to hold them. Other times, the big themes are obvious -- we've come across one somewhere, stored it away, and yanked it out to examine -- but lack the small but telling detail. Sometimes we stumble across those details and it all snaps into place. Then we praise the Gods of Journalism and sing of the elegant simplicty of Archibald MacLeish: "For all the history of grief/ an empty doorway and a maple leaf."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com